Tamil, Malayalam stars in big demand for ‘special’roles

Leading stars of Tamil and Malayalam films are making inroads in T-wood. After Malayalam superstar Mohanlal essayed an important roles in ‘Janatha Garage’ and ‘Manamantha’, now it’s the turn of Tamil stars like Madhavan and Vijay Sethupathi to appear in special roles in films like ‘Savyasaachi’ and ‘Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy’ respectively.

Another Mallu star Prithviraj is in talks with Suresh Babu for a key role in the latter’s upcoming film. With dream merchants scripting key roles along with hero roles, producers are chasing down actors in other languages to do justice to well-defined roles besides offering a fresh casting to the viewers.

“Ace actor Mohan Lal was a surprise package in ‘Janatha Garage’. His presence and immense acting talent, triggered one of the best performances from Jr NTR. As both matched acting strides and their onscreen chemistry helped the film to spin box-office,” says leading producer Bandla Ganesh, who feels that casting popular Telugu stars is no more a safe bet.

“Casting other language stars, brings in novelty to poster value and the audience would also step in with open mind to watch a new actor at work. Viewers would not walk in with a same excitement if you rope in a popular Telugu actor as it robs off the novelty factor,” he adds.

It seems to be true, as megastar Chiranjeevi will be sharing screen space with Tamil star Vijay Sethupathi who carved a niche for himself in K-town with hit films like ‘Pizza’, ‘Rekka’ and ‘Vikram Vedha’.

“Tamil star Vijay Sethupathi has a very important role in ‘Sye Raa… and his presence would be justified. We were looking for a new face to give boost the role,” says a source close to the unit. Similarly, hotshot star Naga Chaitanya will be locking horns with reigning Hindi and Tamil star Madhavan in his upcoming action adventure. “Madhavan will be a value addition to our action saga. He was a lover boy and gained popularity in Telugu with hits like ‘’Sakhi’ and is very popular among Telugu viewers. Although, we can’t reveal more details about his role, but our special role suits his stature,” cut shorts director Chandoo Mondeti.

Even producer Suresh Babu is looking to cast Malayalam star Prithvi Raj for a important his next production with his brother and seasoned actor Venkatesh. “It’s a meaty role and we are discussing with Prithviraj besides exploring other options too,” concludes Babu.