[intro] Actress Trisha has crossed the 50-film milestone with plenty of grit, planning and grace that is undiminished. It is no mean feat to achieve this as a leading heroine in a male-dominated film industry. [/intro]
“Trisha Leda Nayanatara” is one of the dubbed films that released recently. The point is not whether the movie clicked (it didn’t). The point is that the film carries the title of a prominent heroine – Trisha Krishnan. This happens very rarely in a male-denominated film industry in the South that a film heroine’s name is the main title of a film. Not just that this ultra-slim, cute-looking girl who is in her thirties has completed over 15 years and has recently completed 50 films in her career which is no ordinary feat. “Cheekati Rajyam” her latest release is counted as her 50th film. [pullquote position=”right”]Unlike other stars, who got relegated to doing item numbers in many films to prolong their longevity on screen, Trisha never compromised on the roles offered to her, nor was willing to short-change herself. [/pullquote]
Talk about the title after a heroine, only few Tollywood heroines have had this honor of a film named after them – Sujatha (“Sujatha”), Jayasudha (“Jayasudha”) and Sridevi. (“Devi-Sridevi”). But Trisha is a modern-day Diva who has scaled dizzy heights of stardom since her debut in “Varsham”. The movie itself came after she won a series of beauty pageants and model assignments. When the film got released, she won rare accolades as one of the freshest and cutest faces of Tollywood winning rave reviews. The girl who wanted to become a criminal psychologist has become a hot property in Tollywood winning a Filmfare award in her debut film in Telugu. She followed “Varsham” with another blockbuster movie – “Nuvvosthaanante Ne Vaddanante” which won her “Nandi” award. In Tamil she started her career around the same time that Shriya Saran came in “Santosham” and starred in Mani Ratnam’s “Yuva” as the cherubic and effervescent US-aspirant girl.
She climbed the charts fast bagging roles against all the new heroes of Tollywood and Kollywood acting against the new age heroes – Prabhas, Sidharth,Nitin, Mahesh Babu, Ajith, Vikram, Suriya etc. In the 80s, there was a trend set by the likes of NTR, ANR and Sobhan Babu to serenade heroines like Sridevi who played baby girls in the early part of their careers. Naturally, Sridevi took her sweet revenge by acting opposite second-generation heroes like Nagarjuna and Venkatesh much later. Perhaps mindful of this “perishability” of a heroine’s life, Trisha was careful not to expend herself by acting opposite veteran heroes like Balakrishna, Nagarjuna, Venkatesh, Pawan Kalyan. A strategy she changed when Tamil director Selvaraghavan cast her in “Aadavariki Ardhaale Verule” opposite Victory Venkatesh. It worked as the magic of Trisha’s exuberant and controlled acting played a key role in the box-office success. The movie became one of the biggest hits in Venkatesh’s career but also won a third filmfare for Trisha. Movies like “Athadu” and “Stalin” with Mahesh and Chiranjeevi became blockbuster hits in her career.
Trisha soon stepped on the gas with back-to-back hits with ageing heroes like Nagarjuna, Ravi Teja in “King” and “Krishna” while pairing with second-gen heroes like Prabhas. She forayed into Hindi films too in between while creating waves in Tamil industry starring with every top hero there except Superstar Rajinikanth. For all her growing fanfare in the South, her foray into Bollywood with a Priyadarshan film “Khatta Meetha” couldn’t get her noticed well by the Hindi Film Industry which could have revved her career differently. Her petite looks got disguised with lacklustre costumes and hopeless characterisation by Priyadarshan. That marked the end of her sole sojourn into Bollywood.
Despite multiple hits in her career with almost major established and upcoming hero, Trisha’s career reached a plateau after “Vinaithanda Varuvaaya” the Tamil version of “Ye Maaya Chesaave” directed by Gautam Menon. The movie was a hit in both languages but the tables turned on Trisha as people felt she was looking older than Samantha if you see both the versions. That dawned a realisation in Trisha that the shelf-life for a heroine is limited in an industry which doesn’t see too many heroine-oriented scripts. Newcomers like Tamannah, Samantha and Kajol started bagging plum offers which could have gone to her.
[pullquote position=”left”] Trisha had many nuanced performances which played a key role in stellar box-office successes while remaining as the leading heroine in all her films unlike many of her contemporaries – which itself is a rare feat.[/pullquote]But unlike stars like Shriya Saran who got relegated to doing item numbers in many films to prolong their longevity on screen, Trisha never compromised on the roles offered to her, nor was willing to short-change herself. Even when acting with heroes like NTR Jr. and Balakrishna (which is like a Sridevi act in the way she starred with a second and third-generation hero), she got the meatier role. One of her memorable quotes for which she drew flak for audacity was when she said, “ I am evergreen like the Mercedez Benz not a passing fad”. She chose her films with the same vigor winning many hearts with her vivaciousness and infectious innocence combining the grace of an Audrey Hepburn and a Sophia Lauren. She also embraced causes like PETA as a brand ambassador and acted in many ads.
Trisha’s filmography so far has had more highs than lows and she continues to exude glamor and striking innocence. She had many nuanced performances which played a key role in stellar box-office successes while remaining as the leading heroine in all her films unlike many of her contemporaries – which itself is a rare feat. She achieved this without ever crossing limits of decency and she kept herself fit and relevant with modern characterisations. She has her share of failures and her wish-list (to act with Rajinikanth). But in this age, Trisha’s fame is as much as a classic example of how an unconventional Indian beauty moulded her career to remain an enigma and a treat to watch for her fans and well-wishers for more than 15 years. Her next film “Nayaki” promises to be a high-point in her career inter-mixing her grace and acting prowess with comi-horror genre. T360 wishes Trisha more power and variety in her films before age and the much-awaited marriage settles her down.
