Richa, Aarti Agarwal, Sonia. These are not girls living next door. They are the new stars of the Telugu film industry, long known for providing its homegrown stalk to Bollywood. But here's the irony. These new nymphets of the Telugu screen are all outsiders. After giving the country legendary stars like Sridevi, Jaya Pradha, and Waheeda Rehman, to name just a few, the Telugu film world is now on life support from distant shores. Richa is from Mumbai, Sonia from Delhi and Aarti has come all the way from New Jersey.

Now, irony no: 2. While local female talent has all but dried up, there's a spurt of new heroes like NTR Junior, Tarun and Uday Kiran, who are dominating the Telugu cine scene with major hits.

COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

Telugu films are currently doing better than Tamil movies. On an average, 80 to 100 Telugu films are being churned out in a year. A hit does business of Rs 10 to 15 crore, while on an average, a Telugu movie takes Rs 75 lakh to 10 crore to make. Earlier, most Telugu films were directed by Tamils. Not any more. "Earlier, we use to take the story lines from other States, mostly Tamil Nadu. Now, original storylines are coming from our State," says Dr K L Narayan, a film producer.

So, why are Telugu girls not making it big in the State's cinema, which looks to be in the pink of health?