Sandalwood is seeing a revival of female centric films. In the past, we have seen female oriented films like “Ranganayaki” doing extraordinary business. However as time passed, Sandalwood became a male bastion. But this year, we have seen many female oriented films doing well. The recently released film “Mummy” starring Priyanka Upendra has beaten demonetisation and is a big hit.
Since the past few years, Sandalwood has always been a male centric industry. Stars like Yash, Sudeep, Darshan, Puneeth Rajkumar, Shivarakumar, Upendra and Ganesh are ruling the roost. They manage to get big opening and are called as safe actors in the industry. Only a handful of heroines like Radhika Pandit, Rachitha Ram and Amulya have been able to get a loyal fan base. However unfortunately, we have not seen these three actress making a heroine centric film. Radhika debuted in “Moggina Mannassu”, which can be called as her only female centric film. The film was a big hit and Radhika was praised for her performance. She also bagged awards for the film. But after that, she has been seen in commercial films or romantic films.
This year has been great for female centric films. Sumana Kittur directed “Kiragoorina Gayyaligalu ” was a female centric film. It was about a group of rural women. The film had Shwetha Srivatsav, Sukrutha Wagle, Sonu Gowda and Karunya Ram in lead roles. In May, this year, we saw Pawan Kumar direct “U Turn”. Shraddha Srinath made her debut with this film. The film revolved around her character and the suspense thriller was a big hit at the box office.
The year ended on a bang for female centric films with “Mummy”. Priyanka Upendra has been seen only in handful of films in Sandalwood. After working with stars like Vishnuvardhan, Ravichandran and her husband Upendra, she made a grand comeback earlier this year with Dinesh Baboo’s female centric film “Priyanka”. The film unfortunately did not do well. Her next film was “Mummy”. Due to demonetisation, Kannada films were not at all doing well at the box office. However, “Mummy” proved everyone wrong and is still running to packed houses in its third week. 
If we compare to Bollywood, Sandalwood has not been able to make female centric films. Speaking about this, Vinod, a film buff says, “Our audience still loves commercial films. It will take time for them to accept anything new. In Bollywood, we have seen stars like Kangana Ranaut doing only female centric films. Most of her films have also worked. Her “Tanu Weds Manu Returns” has earned more than highest grossers of Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgn. When we think of female centric film, we think of sad and art type of films. That should not be the case. We should make fun films. I am sure our audience will accept any type of films, if it is entertaining”.
In a male dominated Sandalwood film industry, the only actress who has given actors run for their money is Malashree. The legendary actress, who debuted with “Nanjudi Kalyana” was so popular that producers had to pay her more remuneration than heroes to book her call sheet. After her marriage to producer Ramu, she was seen in action roles. Those films also became big hits. Her films were dubbed in Telugu and Hindi as well. Raagini Dwivedi seems to be following Malashree now. However, her films have not been able to make a mark as yet.
The trend of female centric films is continuing. Pushkar, who produced “Godhi Banna Sadharna Mykattu”, is now producing a new horror film made on a small budget. The film will have only five characters, all female. Sruthi Hariharan, Shraddha Srinath and Shwetha Pandit will be seen in “Urvi”, which is scheduled to release early next year.
It is surely a great trend. Audience expects different films and we hope to see more female centric films in future.
