Desi girls!

But had heseen the actresses of today, he would have taken back his words. After runningaround trees for decades, today���s actresses are taking up action roleswith ��lan. About 15 years ago, when Vijayshanthi���sVyjayanthi IPS rocked Tamil Nadu, it broke the misconception that an action filmcannot ride on a woman���s shoulders. Her role as a cop in theaction-packed film was not only widely appreciated but also fetched her theNational Award for Best Actress. And then, there was a lull.However, aftera hiatus, actresses are now back in action and are increasingly making theirpresence felt.Be it Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in Jodhaa Akbar, DeepikaPadukone in Chandni Chowk To China or Priyanka Chopra in the forthcoming Drona,Bollywood beauties are carrying out complex stunts with ease. And ifBollywood beauties are breaking myths, can our Kollywood heroines be far behind?Actress Sneha, who was typecast in homely roles, has shed her demure girlimage to play a cop in her forthcoming flick Bhavani IPS. ���The rolejust happened,��� she says. ���But now that I have got the opportunity,I want to prove that I can also do action. It is a different experiencealtogether and I am enjoying it,��� says the actress.And Snehais not the only one to have taken the action route. Asin, who received praisefor her performances in both the Tamil and Hindi versions of Ghajini, is alsoset to show her spunky side in an upcoming Indo-Japanese joint productionstarring Kamal Haasan and Japanese actor Tadanobu Asano. The Ghajinigirl is learning Kalaripayattu from a guru in Kerala. The list doesn���t endhere. According to industry buzz, sexy bombshell Mumaith Khan, who appeared inquite a few hot numbers in Lee, Pokkiri and Vettaiyadu Vilayadu, is likely toplay an action role in Macchakanni, a bilingual. The movie will also star Telugustar J D Chakravorthy.Commenting on the trend, action king Arjun says,���It is great that actresses are also experimenting with action. It is goodto see that they are getting professionally trained. It shows their dedicationto work.��� Actor Riyaz Khan concurs. ���All these days,actresses have been portrayed either as glamour dolls or family women. To seethem taking up action roles is a refreshing change. But they need to beprofessionally trained to give a natural performance.���But willaction heroines be on par with their male counterparts? ���Notreally,��� says Sneha. ���I don���t think actresses can stay withaction themes for long. But with occasional action flicks, they will get theopportunity to expose their other skills as well,��� she says.Riyaz Khan adds, ���Although actresses are equally talented, Idon���t think they will be a threat to heroes as their paths are different.In fact, it reduces the heroes��� burden,��� he quips.With womenhaving come of age, Kollywood has more excitement in store. And when estrogenmeets adrenaline, bad guys be wary, because girl power is here tostay!sangeetha.p@timesgroup.com