Divas don khakis to showcase fiery side

Unmindful of the trend of top actresses turning cops receiving `mixed’ response at the box office, gen X stars like Shraddha Kapoor, Pragya Jaiswal, Kyra Dutt and Anasuya have joined the fray to showcase their tougher side. In fact, B-town star Shraddha Kapoor who played soft lover girl in Hindi films like ‘Ashique 2’ and ‘Half Girlfriend’, is all set to unleash her fiery side in her Telugu debut ‘Sahoo’ opposite reigning star Prabhas.

‘Undeniably, talented Vijayashanti became a torch bearer of woman cop roles with her elegant performance in films like ‘Kartavyam’ and ‘Shatruvu’ and brought dignity and respect to khaki-clad women,’ says director Kodi Ramakrishna, who feels that it is diffucult for young actresses to slip into her shoes. ‘Even actresses like Roja, Ramya Krishna, Priyamani, Vani Viswanath and Sneha had their share of cop roles but returned to regular glam-centric roles to keep themselves afloat,’ he adds. However, another director Samudra says “Now-a-days a cop role is not taken so seriously.

Actresses are treating it as another role and doing it, provided the role is well-etched out. Actress Anasuya impressed the audience as a trendy cop in ‘Kshanam’ and then went back to do regular roles. Actually, Pragya Jaiswal put in some effort in ‘Nakshatram’ but her efforts went in vain, due to poor script. ’ he adds. Latest to join the bandwagon of glam diva-turned- cop bandwagon is Kyra Dutt in ‘Paisaa Vasool’.

“Some directors misuse cop roles because for them it is just an excuse to have another glam girl in the film. Kyra Dutt’s poorly-etched role went unnoticed in `Paisa Vasool’. Audiene may remember her curves in an item number and not her performance as a cop, that is unfortunate,’ rues distributor Bharat Bhushan. Actually, in B-town top actreses like Rani Mukherjee, Priyanka Chopra could make a mark as fiery cops.

‘We should blame it on male chavunistic Telugu audience who prefer men in khakis over women, which says it all. Actresses have to break this mindset. We hope Shraddha Kapoor will break the glass ceiling with ‘Sahoo,’ says producer N Padmini who feels that reel-life cop stories have become a butt of jokes among real-life cops. “It is better actreses avoid such roles instead of denting their careers,’ she concludes.