Anushka, Sam to revive women-centric flicks?

With the torch-bearer of women-centric films, Anushka Shetty, returning with her multilingual film 'Nishabdam' to join her younger colleague Samantha, who shattered box office records with 'OH Baby!' and Keerthy Suresh, it looks like waning female-oriented movies have got a booster shot.

"No doubt, Anuskha's comeback is much-needed and the rise of Samantha as a crowd-puller is giving hope for revival of sagging fortunes of lady-oriented flicks," says producer Bogavalli Prasad, who cites the bad show of Tapsee and Nayantara as their films 'Game Over' and 'Anjali Vikramaditya' respectively tanked at the box office in the two Telugu states. "Only box office success will keep this genre alive and kicking," he adds.

Talented Keerthy Suresh, who is the new entrant to this bandwagon, is also trekking the less travelled path and doing another lady-oriented movie for producer Mahesh Koneru after making waves with 'Mahanati.'

"Keerthy is new star in the T-town horizon who is trying to carve a niche for herself, riding on her talent and shunning glam-prop roles," says producer Aswini Dutt, who feels that more young divas would take up author-backed roles to prove their mettle.

"Samantha proved her acting chops in varied roles, followed by Keerthy who bagged national award for 'Mahanati'. Now, Paayal Rajput is joining the fray with 'RDX 100 Love," he adds.

However, the lackluster fare of movies with female protagonists' has dampened the spirits of distributors. "Kausalya Krishnamoorthy,' starring Aishwarya Rajesh as a cricketer had few takers.

Similarly, Rashmi Gautam (Anthaku Minchi and Sivaranjani), Anasuya (Kathanam), Raai Lakshmi (Where is the Mahalakshmi) and Nandita Raj (Viswhamitra) couldn't draw in crowds. Above all, Tammanah's blatant skin show in ghost story 'Abhinetri 2' went almost unnoticed putting buyers in financial mess," says distributor Vamsi Kishore.

Sharing a different take on divas picking up author-backed roles, director Gunasekhar says, "After playing second fiddle to male stars, most of the actresses like to do a performance-oriented role, once-in-a-while. Hence, female-centric movies will be made but the success largely depends on novel content and other factors,"

Director Teja feels that A-listers like Tapsee, Tamannaah and Samantha will raise the bar on the genre along with Anushka in the days to come. "I think the setback for lady-oriented movies is temporary and it is bound to be revived.

In fact, reigning divas with their brand value will be able to trigger hype around the film and subsequently pull in crowds on the strength of their names. As it is difficult to make a female-centric with a newcomer, hotshot actresses remain the best bet for this genre," he says and adds a rider, "Not all reigning divas are willing to carry a film on their shoulders since some of them went out of business after doing author-backed roles."