The Curious Case Of Three Missing Heroines

Once upon a time, these three heroines almost ruled Telugu cinema. Producers used to line up for their dates, and many heroes wanted them in their movies. And then, suddenly, there’s a strange emptiness around them. Though these three are shedding their girl-next-door image and doing more glamour on social media than they ever did in films, somehow Keerthy Suresh, Pooja Hegde, and Krithi Shetty, the next big sensations of Tollywood, have no single Telugu film in hand now.

Keerthy Suresh once had both performance image and commercial value, after the super success of Mahanati. But somewhere, the momentum around her slowed down. Back-to-back films failed to create an impact. She tried her hand in Bollywood and did an amazing glamour show, also alongside Varun Dhawan in Baby John, but nothing worked out.

Pooja Hegde’s fall is even more shocking if one looks at the peak she once enjoyed. There was a phase where almost every top hero film had Pooja after Ala Vaikuntapurramlo. She became the default commercial heroine of Tollywood. But then, getting replaced in Guntur Kaaram first and Ustaad Bhagat Singh later, has pushed her almost out of Tollywood. After speaking about the naval obsession of South films, she’s now slipping into bikinis and skimpy outfits through Varun Dhawan’s Jawani Hai Tho Ishq Hona Hai.

Then comes Krithi Shetty. After Uppena, the industry treated her like the next big thing. Young heroes, medium-budget films, big banners, whatnot, everyone rushed behind her. But with back-to-back flops, she didn’t find many takers. She went to Malayalam, but nothing worked. She did Tamil films, and even did lots of glamour in the recent Tamil film LIK, but that too didn’t click. She too has no Telugu films in hand at the given moment.

None of these actresses actually lost their glamour or popularity completely. Social media engagement is still strong. Fan bases still exist. Songs and old clips still trend. The audience hasn’t forgotten them. But it looks like the Telugu industry simply moved on temporarily in search of “freshness.” Well, one solid blockbuster can change everything overnight again, but that happens only if they get a Telugu film first.