Next Gen - The Heroines

The idea of doing a ‘Next Generation’ post for our heroines came from the comments section of the post on the young heroes. But making this short list turned out to be quite tough since the positions of our heroines is so different from the positions of our heroes. But then again, it was more fun too :-)

Most importantly, Tamil cinema is unabashedly hero-centric. It’s the heroes who bring in the crowds to the theaters and the heroines are usually little more than props in a movie. The bigger the hero, the smaller the heroine’s role. So their survival usually depends more on the heroes (their chemistry with them, the fate of the movies where they’ve been paired with them, etc) rather than on their own looks or talent. There’s also the sheer number of contestants since every other movie these days seems to have a new, pretty young thing as its heroine.

But inspite of this, we’ve had a number of heroines make a mark in the past. They are the ones who pair up with the biggest stars but also get movies where they get the chance to play important roles. They have their own fans and play a significant part in the movies’ success. Going backwards from today I would pick Jo, Simran, Kushboo and Revathi to be the top heroines of the last 15 years or so.

With that in mind, here are my predictions for the 5 actresses of today who have the biggest probability of making a mark in the next generation of Tamil cinema. In other words, these actresses haven’t reached the position held by those heroines I mentioned earlier but have the best chance of doing so.

5. Pooja
Here’s an actress whose time is due. I’ve been rooting for her ever since she stole the show from Amoga in Jay Jay but its only now that she finally seems to be getting noticed. After a line of flops, Pattiyal proved that she’s not really jinxed and she has a few films lined up. A couple of more hits, and she’ll be in the running for the top spot.

4. Nayantara
Considering that her first 2 movies were with Sarath and Rajni, I’m surprised that Nayan’s come this far. Our younger heroes are known for sidelining heroines who’ve acted with more senior heroes (Meena comes to mind) but Nayan seems to be doing the balancing act well (this Diwali she has movies with Sarath, Simbhu and Jeeva). But I think her ‘senior’ tag will still work against her and she does have a mature look that makes her look older than most younger heroes.

3. Bhavana
Just her lineup of movies makes Bhavana the next big thing in Tamil cinema. While she is cute enough for the light romances, Bala’s Naan Kadavul offers her the chance to be taken seriously as an actress too. If she continues to keep up this balancing act and keeps away from the glamour route, she could end up as her generation’s Revathi.

2. Trisha
She is definitely pretty but I think the biggest factor in Trisha’s current standing in Tamil cinema, is luck. She’s been incredibly lucky(or sensible) in picking films that end up as hits while rejecting – or not being considered for – similar films that eventually flop. Consider Saamy and Arul. Unakkum Enakkum and Mazhai. She’s yet to prove herself as a great actress or dancer and hasn’t so far had a film that could be called hers. But time is on her side…

1. Asin
She is the only actress who has proved herself so far and that makes me place her at the top of the list. She is cute, she can act, she is great at comedy and she seems to be the heroine of choice for the biggest stars today. Those were the aspects that characterized the top heroines of the past in their earlier days and they should help Asin reach that top spot in the future also.

Sabaash... Seriyaana Poatti!