Bangalore girls storm to Tollywood

That Tollywood is eager to cast heroines from Bollywood and Kollywood is well known, but of late it has been rolling out red carpets to the gals from Sandalwood. Result: Actresses from Bangalore are swamping Telugu cinemas like never before. As many as seven actresses, who are of Bangalore-origin or have been part of Kannada movies, are now shooting for several Telugu movies.Pranitha Subhash, Catherine Tresa, Hariprriya, Sharmila Mandre, Shubra Aiyappa, Sanam Shetty, and Aditi Chengappa are shooting for various projects while Parul Yadav and Deepika Kamaiah are gearing up for their grand entry. Not to forget the reigning stars, such as Nithya Menen and Anushka Shetty, who hail from the Garden City. Among these actresses, Pranitha Subhash and Catherina Tresa have already entered the big league with blockbusters such as Atharintiki Dhaaredi (Pawan Kalyan) and Iddrammayilatho (Allu Arjun) respectively.
Pranitha was recently featured in Vishnu Manchu’s Doosukeltha, and there are indications that she has already signed up a project with Jr. NTR. The stupendous success of Atharintiki Dhaaredi has propelled Pranitha to the top and she is seen spending more time in Hyderabad, cutting ribbon for new stores or walking as show-stopper for wellknown designers.
The same is the case with Catherine, who was seen in insignificant movies in Kannada. The actress will soon commence shooting for a movie opposite Ram Charan. Her next release is Paisa, directed by wellknown film-maker Krishna Vamsi.
Sharmila made an impressive debut opposite Allari Naresh in Kevvu Kekka. Hariprriya is also making significant inroads into Tollywood by signing her fourth Telugu movie. Shubra Aiyappa made a ‘grand entry’ through Rey opposite Sai Dharam Teja (Chiranjeevi’s nephew). However, the inordinate delay in shooting resulted in the actress pulling out of the project. She is currently shooting for an untitled Telugu movie.
So what prompts Tollywood to look for new faces from Bangalore? According to a top casting director, there are three reasons for Telugu film-makers to look for new face. “Firstly, Tollywood and the audiences are tired of seeing the same old faces. Actors too don’t want to be paired with the same girls again and again. Secondly, most of the Telugu cinemas these days have two heroines and A-list actresses don’t seem to be comfortable doing such roles. Thirdly, the budget factor. For heroines from Bombay and Chennai, producers have to shell out huge pay cheques. But Kannada actresses are not pricey and are ready to work for as low as Rs 25 lakh, even in lead roles. All these factors work in favour of Kannada actresses,” she says. A Hyderabad-based casting agent says another major reason is that Bangalore-based actresses “behave well and don’t throw tantrums unlike heroines from other industry”. “It’s totally trouble-free when these girls from Bangalore join the sets. Most of the big names from other industries make life miserable for producers and directors,” says the agent.