New age girls shed tears

The role of actress Regina in the Friday release, Krishna Vamsi’s ‘Nakshatram’ has striking resemblance to character played by Sangeeta in the director’s cult classic ‘Khadgam’. Regina, who plays the role of a background dancer in Sandeep Kishan starrer, has punctured tear ducts.

It cannot be merely dismissed as the director’s usual trope, as writers and directors are increasingly looking for actresses to portray a myriad of emotions, pathos is certainly one of them. It cannot be called a trend as yet but the recent line up of films hint that the industry is certainly moving in that direction.

Tollywood ‘it’ girl Rakul Preet Singh, has turned into more than a glam doll. Pathos was the primary emotion of her character Boyapati Srinu’s directorial and Allu Arjun starrer ‘Sarainodu’. If she isn’t romancing Allu Arjun and shaking a leg with him, she is putting her tear ducts to good use.

In her recent release ‘Rarandoi Venduka Chuddam’, she plays a typical village belle, though it was a bubbly character, the director wasted no time in using tear ducts to full effect.

Legendary actress like Savitri and Anjali Devi are renowned to play pathos emotion very well. They weren’t dubbed as ‘Tragedy Queen’ like Meena Kumari in Hindi, but in those times actress were required to emote a myriad of emotions. Their successors Jayasudha and Sarada are known for their ability to play pathos very well.

However, after the turn of new millennium, actress became glamdolls. They are reduced to romance hero and shake a leg with him. But, looks like things are changing for good as new age stars are not being reduced to just glam divas.

Nivetha Thomas, who was recently seen in Nani starrer ‘Ninnu Kori’ has used her tear ducts to good effect and was lauded for her role. She was also praised for her role in Mohan Krishna Indraganti’s ‘Gentleman’. One hopes that this change will last long and give audience memorable performances in the movies to come.

By Aditya Parankusam