TollywoodSamantha has been stuck in the 'glam doll' roles for years now, but 2018 is proving to be her breakthrough year.Mridula R"As female leads in the south industry, we are automatically expected to become dumber.” That’s what Samantha said during the U Turn press meet and it’s probably the truest statement given by a southern actor in recent times. For the longest time, we have been writing off Tamil and Telugu mass entertainers as a one ‘man’ show. We have walked out of theatres, tired of watching the male leads fighting goons, while our female leads, otherwise addressed as ‘glam dolls’, are placed in these films just for the sake of foreign locale songs and romance. Except for the times when there is an Anushka Arundhati style release and more recently, a ‘Nayanthara’ film. Samantha Akkineni belongs to the generation of heroines who mostly add no weightage...
- 9/18/2018
- by Sowmya
- The News Minute
TollywoodAs the feisty Rama Lakshmi, Samantha proves that she isn’t going to disappear or be relegated to ‘sister’ roles anytime soon. Sowmya RajendranWhen Samantha and Naga Chaitanya announced their decision to get married last year, Samantha said that film offers suddenly began to dry up. Among the top ranked heroines in the Telugu and Tamil film industries today, Samantha made it clear that she wasn’t calling it quits only because she’d made an important decision in her personal life. With Rangasthalam, the actor has sent out a strong message that not only is she here to stay, she isn’t going to be relegated to the ‘sister’ and ‘mother’ roles anytime soon. Directed by Sukumar, the Telugu film, which is set in the ‘80s and stars Ram Charan and Samantha in lead roles, has gone on to become a blockbuster. The long-held assumption that the audience cannot accept a married woman playing another man's heroine on screen has been rubbished, with Samantha's character winning favour with viewers. Unlike most mainstream Telugu films which barely have a role for the heroine, Samantha in Rangasthalam plays a feisty Rama Lakshmi who doesn’t disappear after a song and dance routine. One can ask why our filmmakers continue to cast fair-skinned women with tan make-up in such roles, instead of selecting someone who looks the part – but that’s a debate for another day. When Rama Lakshmi spots Chitti Babu (Ram Charan) ogling her as she works in the fields, she has no qualms about taking off her half-saree and asking him what he’s looking at. The scene description might sound sleazy but the effect of it is not – Samantha’s stride and confident body language ensure that she’s in control of what’s happening. An actor who is mostly known for playing “glamorous” roles (a pity, considering she has proved that she can perform with films like Eega), Samantha has more to do in Rangasthalam than make cutesy faces. The scene when she hands a bigger bottle of poison to her father, who threatens to commit suicide if she walks out of her wedding, is among the best moments in the film. Interestingly, Rangasthalam was launched by Chiranjeevi, veteran actor and Ram Charan’s father, in February 2017, soon after Samantha and Naga Chaitanya got engaged the previous month. Usually, a woman actor’s commitment to marriage would sound the death knell for her career. This is especially true in the south Indian film industries where very few women actors since the ‘80s have continued to act in lead roles after marriage, unlike a Savitri or Kr Vijaya. You can count the names like Rima Kallingal, Asha Sharath and Amala Paul (who later divorced) on your fingers. Most times, heroines decide to get married at the fag end of their career or quit if they happen to be at their peak. A few like Jyothika and Manju Warrier have since made successful comebacks after a long break. None of Samantha’s contemporaries and competitors in the Tamil and Telugu industries like Anushka Shetty, Nayanthara, Rakul Preet Singh, Kajal Aggarwal, Regina Cassandra, Nithya Menen and Tamannaah are married. Shriya Saran, who isn’t quite in the same league as Samantha any more, is the only exception. Most male actors who play the lead, on the other hand, are married and this isn’t surprising, considering that their marital status has never had an impact on film offers or salary. Things have changed in Bollywood where stars like Aishwarya Rai, Kareena Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Radhika Apte and others have not let their marital status dictate their hold over the box office. With Rangasthalam and a host of upcoming films, Samantha may well establish the tradition in the south, too.
- 4/4/2018
- by Monalisa
- The News Minute
TollywoodMegastar Chiranjeevi unveiled the much-awaited trailer of the film at a grand pre-release event.Digital NativeDigital NativeDirector Sukumar has been revealing the teasers of his upcoming film Rangasthalam over the past few months to gain the attention of the film buffs. While there is no doubt that these teasers have gone viral and promoted the film, the trailer launch recently seems to be the crown of it all. On the auspicious occasion of Ugadi the team organised a grand pre-release event held on Sunday at the landmark venue Rk Beach, Visakhapatnam, which had megastar Chiranjeevi as the Chief Guest. At the event, the megastar unveiled the much-awaited trailer of the film. The megastar spoke high about the film and performance of Ram Charan in the film. Chiranjeevi said, "Many movies have come in this concept but it is completely different try. Director Sukumar has put his full hardwork. Rangasthalam will be for Charan what Khaidi No.150 was for me. I am proud of Charan as a father and also jealous of him being an actor, since Charan has got an opportunity to portray a character like Chitti Babu. After watching the movie, I became a spellbound and my wife Surekha hugged." From the trailer, it is evident that the film’s hero, Ram Charan had gone into the skin of the character, Chitti Babu, and has lived the role. Set in the 1980s, the trailer also proves that the director has succeeded in perfectly recreating that era. Starring Ram Charan and Samantha as the lead pair, fans will get to see them as Chitti Babu and Rama Lakshmi on screen. With the story, screenplay and dialogues penned by director Sukumar, the film is bankrolled by Naveen Yerneni, Y Ravi Shankar and Mohan Cherukuri under the banner Mythrie Movie Makers on a budget of Rs 50 crores. The star cast of this period revenge drama also includes Anasuya Bharadwaj, Aadhi Pinisetty, Prakash Raj, Jagapati Babu, Amit Sharma, Gauthami and Rajesh Diwakar. Devi Sri Prasad is the music composer for this movie with R Rathnavelu cranking the camera and Navin Nooli editing it. Rangasthalam is due to hit the silver screens on March 30 worldwide. With Rangasthalam scheduled for release, Ram Charan is gearing up to get on to the sets of the Boyapati Srinivas directorial which is yet to be titled. The shooting of this film is expected to begin next month. After this project is wrapped up, Ram Charan would be moving over to the SS Rajamouli directorial. (Content provided by Digital Native)...
- 3/19/2018
- by Editor
- The News Minute
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