Southern stars twinkle in Bollywood

Though they are yet to rise to the stature of Sridevi and Jaya Prada, many actors from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala are beginning to take up Bollywood projects.Daggubati, who entered Hindi films this year with Rohan Sippy’s Dum Maaro Dum, feels Bollywood could give him a chance to experiment with his talent.“I knew I could never get an opportunity to do this kind of role due to regional boundaries. The role and the script were a bigger excitement for me to grow as an actor,” says Rana.With Shor In The City, Sundeep Kishan forayed into Hindi cinema from the Tamil-Telugu industry. He grew up in Chennai.“The southern industry is healthy, but the craze that the Bollywood world has created is unbeatable.Who does not want to be part of it? Moreover, I feel Bollywood has set international standards in the recent past and from outside it looks like a ‘glamorous’ world,” says Kishan adding, “Experimentation with roles is what one looks forward to and I see that in the Hindi film industry. The satisfaction and the career prospects - all soar high after one makes a mark here.” As far as southern luminaries like Mammootty, Mohanlal and Kamal Haasan are concerned, they have done select films in Hindi and made their presence felt, but never really made a base in Mumbai.But in the recent past, Bollywood has welcomed a slew of actors from the south, including Kamal Haasan’s daughter Shruti in Luck, Trisha Krishnan in Khatta Meetha and Charmy Kaur in the Amitabh Bachchanstarrer Bbuddah... Hoga Terra Baap.Ileana D’cruz will be seen in Anurag Basu’s Barfee.There is a lot of buzz around Kajal Aggarwal’s full-fledged Hindi debut opposite Ajay Devgn in Singham, releasing this Friday.“The reach of Hindi cinema is larger, but the south is equally professional.In the south, they have very talented technicians like in Bollywood. Both industries have equally good artists, good scripts and good professionals,” she says adding, “Regional barriers are slowly and steadily disappearing which is a very good thing.”