After Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kajal Aggarwal, Keerthy Suresh, Anjali, Tamannaah Bhatia and Anupama Parameswaran, Nidhi Agarwal is the latest actress to take up a female-led project in Telugu cinema. She is set to headline an upcoming mythology-based thriller to be produced by Varah Films and directed by Tantra fame Srinivas Gopisetty.
The director is said to have developed a powerful story specifically around the female protagonist. Producer Lagadapati Sridhar is hopeful that the project will help Nidhi carve a strong space for herself with a performance-oriented role.
“We wish her good luck and hope she will turn the tide,” says Sridhar, pointing to the struggles faced by several actresses who have headlined solo projects in recent years. He cites films such as Anupama Parameswaran’s Paradha, Tamannaah’s Odela 2, Kajal Aggarwal’s Satyabhama, Anjali’s Geetanjali Malli Vachindi and Keerthy Suresh’s Raghu Thatha as examples of female-led films that failed to make a significant impact at the box office.
Sridhar believes the trend reflects a larger challenge for actresses attempting to shoulder films in the Telugu market. “I urge young divas to avoid solo-hero films and pick star-studded movies if they want a longer career in Tollywood. Telugu audiences are still largely male-oriented in their theatrical preferences, and actresses have rarely been able to become consistent crowd-pullers on their own,” he says.
According to him, audiences readily embrace male stars in larger-than-life roles but do not always extend the same support to female actors when they take centre stage. “It’s unfortunate, but it is a sad reality,” he adds.
Sridhar points out that only a few actresses have managed to buck the trend. Anushka Shetty and Samantha Ruth Prabhu, he says, have delivered notable successes with women-led films, while many others eventually returned to playing romantic leads opposite established male stars. “Taking on author-backed roles has been a risky proposition for most actresses,” he observes.
He further argues that Telugu audiences continue to associate heroines primarily with glamorous roles alongside leading male stars. “Audiences want glamorous heroines alongside leading male stars—whether as lovers or wives—which helps build their fan base. But when these same heroines attempt to shoulder films as protagonists, the support often fades,” he says.
Sridhar, however, remains optimistic about the changing landscape. He points to Samantha’s Maa Inti Bangaram as an example of a female-led success and notes that Rashmika Mandanna’s The Girlfriend also managed an average theatrical run. “I hope actresses change the game for their peers, much like Shraddha Kapoor did in Bollywood with the blockbuster Stree 2,” he concludes.