Who’s the top leading lady at present in Kollywood? It is not easy to answer. There might be quite a few ways to look at it. One is the size of the pay packet. The other is the popularity meter. But, let’s take one that is far simpler to analyze, the box office results of the recent past. At the beginning of last year, Nayanthara looked to be the undisputed queen of Kollywood with many prestigious projects lined up alongside the top heroes of the industry. Yaradi Nee Mohini, Kuselan, Sathyam, Aegan and Villu. Of the five, only Yaradi Nee Mohini managed to earn the hit tag, all others bit the dust in spite of the big banners and huge star values. That does not augur well for Nayanthara.
However, the spate of flops does not seem to have dimmed her status too much. She has Aadhavan lined up where she is paired with Suriya. Then there is Trisha. She has not exactly been having a whale of a time. The big projects seem to have dried up for a bit, though she is still doing some quality work. Last year’s only movie alongside a top hero was Kuruvi which faced an unfortunate fate at the box office. But the big draw for Trisha fans last year was the much anticipated Abhiyum Naanum which was expected to launch her into the performance league. But, while the film got appreciated, it did not fetch enough mileage for Trisha. Now, her hopes are rested on Sarvvam.
But, on the sly two new ladies have sneaked in. Tamanna has had a dream start to 2009 with Ayan going great guns. Anandha Thandavam is forgettable. But she has some enviable projects on the line including Payya. Another big gainer of 2009 seems to be ‘Arundhathee’ Anushka who has followed up her amazing success with top of the block signings including Vijay’s Vettaikaran and Suriya’s Singam. With Asin briefly out of the reckoning with Bollywood and overseas projects, the field seems set for a very healthy battle to gain the queen bee’s spot which at the moment has no clear holder.
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