Tollywood's glam girls learn Telugu

T-Town babes learn Telugu

Tollywood's glam girls, who were once averse to learning the local tongue, are now making the effort to get it right

Suresh Kavirayani

Not so long ago, 'naaku Telugu radu' (I don't know Telugu) was the standard line dished out by Tollywood's 'imported' hep babes. But now times are changing. T-Town's leading ladies are vying with each other to hone their language skills. Take a look at the A-listers — Tamannaah, Samantha, Shruti Haasan, Anushka and Taapsee — they are all non-Telugu girls, but within a short span of time, all of them have picked up the language and some have even graduated to dubbing their own lines. While Shruti Haasan surprised many with her fluent Telugu in recent interviews, Punjabi kudi Taapsee went on to dub for two of her films "Mr Pefect" and "Mogudu" and Mumbai girl Tamannaah did it for "100% Love".
Commenting on the trend, filmmaker Thammareddy Bharadwaj, says, "It's a good sign. It means that the actresses are interested in acting and not just the fat pay cheque. Learning the language helps them to perform better as they can understand their lines and emote well. Also some directors can communicate only in Telugu, so in most cases the finer nuances are lost in translation if the actress can't speak the language." Director Harish Shankar of "Gabbar Singh" fame agrees and says that the director's job becomes easier when an actor understands the language. "It's easy for us when they understand Telugu as it helps us communicate better and that in turn reflects in the film. I was very happy to see Shruti making an effort to learn the language. It's going to help her a lot in the near future," he says.
And with newer and younger faces popping up in T-Town in every other film, the competition is getting hotter. The existing A-listers are not taking any chances as they make efforts to pick up skills that enhance their performance. Delhi-based Taapsee, who debuted with "Jhummandi Naadam", proved to be a quick learner. She won appreciation for her enthusiasm and the confidence with which she dubbed for two of her recent movies. Even reigning diva Tamannaah worked hard to learn the language and mouths her own lines in her films. The actress received accolades for her performances and she says that it was to a large extent because of her effort to learn and understand the language in order to deliver the right expression.
With even the Mumbai and Punjabi kudis picking up the language quickly, the Southern girls are all the more anxious to prove their mettle. While Bangalore-based Anushka picked up the language without a fuss, so much so that people thought she was a local girl, the others have had to put in a great deal of effort.
Talking about her tryst with Telugu, Shruti says, "My father (Kamal Haasan) has an excellent command over the language and I too want to dub my lines in the near future. When I did my first Telugu film "Anaganaga O Dheerudu", I didn't even know one word of the language. Now I can speak well, though I still need to polish it up."
T-Town's lucky mascot, Samantha, whose career has seen a rapid rise ever since she debuted in Telugu with "Ye Maya Chesave" says, "I understand the language and that's what helped me give good performances. But then, I can't speak very well. I'm working on my diction and fluency. I'm confident I'll be able to deliver my own lines very soon!"
suresh.kavirayani@timesgroup.com

Taapsee

Anushka

it was terrible...she was so cute and that voice was like for her mother🤣

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lFP_Jhp6go