notes from a fort

Even beyond the first glance there is nothing in common between the nice lady who sells tea near my house and Ileana.  This particular nice lady selling tea on a kerosene stove is short, dark with broad shoulders strengthened in the rigors of hardship and a quick mouth that could snap any smart talking man while Ileana is…well…Ileana.  Yet if ever a Telugu film was to be made celebrating the life of my tea woman, it probably would star Ileana.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not here to write yet another critique of Telugu Cinema. No, I am here to celebrate it: For no other film industry, anywhere in the world, can claim the honor of taking so many gawky teenage girls and transforming them into stars. Here are my facts: From Vyjayantimala / Hema Malini / Sridevi to Asin / Genelia.  It seems to me that without Telugu cinema most of these girls, if not all, would have been glorified extras in Bollywood.  

There is little written information about the intentions of those first directors who started this trend.  For example, it appears that the only reason Jayaprada was chosen to be in Sargam (1979) by director K.Vishwanath was because she starred in its original – Siri Siri Muvva (1976). Perhaps it made practical sense to work with someone who knew the role well, or perhaps it was just a psychological comfort of having a familiar face on the set in an alien world? However, it is revealing that no-one stopped to worry about such pedestrian matters as language.  In this first age of actress export it was south Indian girls who conquered the north.  At one time Sridevi, Jayaprada and Hema Malini were bigger stars than Zeenat Aman or Parveen Babi.

There were obvious advantages: Telugu films (South Indian films generally) are male centered. This meant that the girls could get away being bad for a long time…. only….only they HAD to look good.  Then there was the question of discipline. The fast turnaround time of Telugu films meant that discipline was not just appreciated, it was demanded.  To beleaguered Hindi film producers of 70’s/80’s reeling under the pressure of temperamental stars this must have been almost magical. They must have wished that they could send their girls over to Hyderabad on a strict training regimen. For this is exactly what they did!

And so in our era Hindi girls travel south. Some have flops behind them (like Nagma) while others are brand new. But, they all look good and none of them can speak Telugu.  If lucky they have a quick hit and are offered more films for extra cash. Just keep looking good, they are told and while here in Hyderabad they keep chipping away until at an opportune moment they jump to Kollywood or Bollywood as an accomplished actor.  Everyone’s happy – right? Yes, except that now we have, for eternity, our favorite Telugu films of the last decade perfect but for the heroine miming gibberish while a dubbing artist is delivering relevant dialogue.

Again, if I had to guess, I would say that these satin white north Indian girls represent a projection of us:  the Telugu self. It means that while the nice lady near my house is serving tea and filling into her red saree, she has a mental image of herself as Ileana.  Now only if she could expect her man to look like Salman, this equation can be balanced.