By P.T. Bopanna
Two celebrities from Coorg in Karnataka – actresses Prema and Rashmika Mandanna – have set the social media on fire in the last few days.
Celebrated journalist Barka Dutt’s interview of Rashmika in London where the latter claimed she was the first actor from Coorg (she must have meant Bollywood) has triggered a huge debate on social media.
My report headlined: ‘RASHMIKA MAY BE A TOP BOLLYWOOD STAR. BUT KODAVAS (COORGS) LOVE SANDALWOOD STAR PREMA’ set off a huge debate with the report garnering more than 2,000 ‘likes’ on Facebook.
The response to my report was one-sided with most of them expressing their support for Prema and targeting pan India actress Rashmika.
The Prema phenomenon was surprising for me because she went into semi-retirement following her marriage in 2006. She had acted in around 70 movies in Kannada and more than 28 movies in Telugu.
Talented Prema, now aged 48, ruled the Kannada film industry in the 90s and early 2000s and left behind an enviable record. As she was free from controversies, and remained down-to-earth at the height of her fame in Sandalwood, she has remained in memory of cine-goers. Probably this was the reason why she is still remembered across all sections of people in Karnataka.
Though Rashmika may not have talent comparable to Prema, she has emerged as one of the top heroines in Telugu industry and Bollywood because of her ‘smart’ choices.
A film-maker friend of mine told me that Rashmika lacks real talent, but she is “riding on the efforts of her PR team”. Though there is some truth in what he said, she definitely has talent, but not comparable to Prema.
While Prema catered to a conservative audience, Rashmika is the darling of the modern film crowd looking for ‘masala’.
Prema would not have agreed to bare her body and engage in hot sexy scenes, unlike Rashmika (in picture) who excelled in ‘Animal’, directed by controversial film-maker Sandeep Reddy Vanga.
The secret of Rashmika has been her smart choices, both in her life and cinema. For instance, she did not hesitate to break her engagement to Rakshit Shetty, the lead character in Kirik Party, Rashmika’s debut movie, when she felt that marriage would come in the way to her film career.
Though both Prema and Rashmika have had successful film careers, it is unfair to target Rashmika for being smart and successful.