Nayanthara,
Shriya,
Tamanna,
Asin and Trisha are the ladies who currently rule
tamil cinema. First of all, hats off to them for all their achievements. They are smart young women who have very easily ridden the fame wave and managed to stay afloat with a good balance.
I always feel people who started out as models can hardly act. Maybe they practise the straight face - stare ahead- look so much, that they find it hard to emote. As with a
ny rule -
Aishwarya Rai is an exception to this - but the problem with her is that she emotes just too much - so much so that it leaves a sickeningly sweet after taste.
Trisha however, is no exception - she has perfected the
peengan bommai looks. She had her chance under the spotlight and did good. I love the chemistry she shared with
Vikram in
Samy and
Vijay in
Gilli. That said, I fail to recall any movie in which she has impressed the audience as a character artiste. So as directors search for "newer faces" who cost them less - I think the sun is setting in the Trisha empire.
Asin entered
tamil cinema with a bang - yes,
M Kumaran 
son of Mahalakshmi was a super duper hit and won her many laurels. 2005 was an even greater year - I think she did 5 movies that year and all fared very well in the box office. But lady luck
doesn't smile for too long a time - she tried to make it big in
Bollywood with
London dreams but has fallen flat. She would need another 2005 to carve her niche back in
Kollywood - maybe
that's what she is wishing for this Christmas!
The day she signed
Shivaji must have been the D-Day for Shriya.
Ok ok - I'll take it easy with my
Rajini craziness - but you know I'm right!
Sh
ivaji crowned
Shriya the reigning queen of
tamil cinema -
atleast it did for that year.She looked so different - awesome makeup, awesome clothes, awesome lights - well t'was a
thalaivar padam,
ofcourse no cost was spared. What it did for
Shriya was great -it took her to the next tier and gave her the break she needed. If she could only keep a level head and stop acting like a brainless oaf in her interviews, I think she would do much better. I hope its only a farce and not her true nature, but putting on a pout and talking like a
lil bebe beee weeeeeee doesn't become her one bit.
Hmm, so that leaves us with who?
Nayanthara and
Tamanna.
Nayanthara does a great job. I liked the character she portrayed in
Yaaradi nee mohini. No frills or furs. Like the host on
sunTV's top ten would say, it was "
yeathartham".
Nayanthara was
rolly-
polly in
Chandramukhi and kept adding on the pounds until she almost looked like she would burst in
Ghajini. But "
Balelakka" in
Shivaji was a welcome surprise. She had awesome toned abs but the sunken cheeks did make her look very malnourished. Looks like she has been on a
yo yo with her diet but in
Aadhavan she looked horrible. Maybe if she looses those "oh too heavy" lash extensions and smiles more naturally showing her pearly whites, she would look better. In the movie, her closed lip smile was so artificial, it was like she was in pain or something. Oh and
ofcourse her attitude - guess its the "in " thing to have a "dude, I
don't care what you think" attitude but showing too much of it in her interviews
doesn't bode too well. The
tamil public are infamously conservative - scandals make news - any publicity is good publicity but if its always going to be scandalous it may be better to just keep it under the wraps.
As you may have guessed, I saved
Tamannah for the last, cause I think she is great. I first noticed her in the "nature power" soap adds - reason? She e
moted too much! I had the "eyebrows-up -eh-look" on my face -
couldn't understand why someone would try to woo the camera so much for a soap. But I guess she made her point - people did notice. Then came the sun dish ads. She looked horrible in
Vyabaari.
But Kaloori was the charm she was waiting for. Ever since, she has been riding the success wave. She still emotes a lot sometimes but what I like best about her is the way she comes across in her interviews - very level headed, no pouting, no lisping, no extra
giggles. Her answers are very down to earth and friendly - Surprisingly sweet for a 19 year old.
Everytime I stop at a traffic light, my eyes automatically peek into the rearview mirror to see how the driver behind me reacts to this decal. If its a desi, I get a small smile and the others?.. well I've seen "Wha...t?!!!" , shrugs, "Whatever that means" and disinterested scans.
