Top Bollywood actors are making a beeline to work in Tamil and Telugu cinema.
There was a time when Bollywood was considered a bigger industry compared to the Tamil & Telugu industries. Superstars from the South Rajinikanth and Kamal Hassan would often get asked why they were not taking up more Bollywood films.
Top Bollywood actors, on he other hand, never considered going taking up roles in South Indian films. Lot of Bollywood actresses (newcomers) who were struggling in Bollywood would go down south, act in few movies, and would give another shot at Bollywood.
However, things seem to have changed (thanks to filmmakers like Rajamouli and Shankar).
Today, top Bollywood actors are making a beeline to work in Tamil & Telugu films.
- Superstar Amitabh Bachchan will be seen in a Telugu film soon.
- Akshay Kumar is doing Shankar-directed 2.0 with Rajinikanth
- Kajol just did a Tamil movie opposite Dhanush
- Vivek Oberoi made his debut in Tamil cinema in Ajith starrer Vivegam
That just proves that our Bollywood superstars are acknowledging the filmmaking capabilities (and production value) of South Indian directors (which will soon be on par with Hollywood movies).
But what about the language? Is that not a barrier?
“Speaking in Tamil was a challenge but I enjoyed the experience. I learned to appreciate the language and its nuances. It’s always challenging to act in a language not native to you but because of the fabulous role and the scale of the film, it was well worth the extra effort,” says Vivek Oberoi.
However, the lines of most Bollywood actors are dubbed later, even though they are keen to speak their own lines.
“In the South Indian cinema the accent and pitch are of paramount importance. No matter how well a North Indian actor speaks his or her lines in Tamil or Telugu it still doesn’t sound authentic. Before Vivek, Aditi Rao was keen to do her own Tamil lines in Mani Ratnam’s film. But she was not allowed,” says a source.
But I guess, that’s a small sacrifice to make, considering that you get an opportunity to work on projects that are on a much bigger scale compared to most of the Bollywood movies that are being churned out.
Do you think its just a matter of time before Salman and Shahrukh Khan will be seen in Tamil movies?
