Over the years, the development of cinema has come a long way. From Sivaji’s mesmerizing monologue in ‘Parasakthi’ to Kamal Haasan’s ‘Vishwaroobam’, stories have changed according to the liking of every generation. However, one noticeable change over the years is the role given to a female lead in cinema. Gone are the years where we saw the female lead donning roles that had substance. In the recent years, we see a marked decline in the quality of roles for the actresses.

An actress need not necessarily represent a woman who is always on top of her game. In fact, as Sai Pallavi points out, there need to be more directors who give women roles that are realistic, normal yet recognizable.

However, there are a handful of good talents who from the very beginning decided to choose roles that are meatier and showcased their talent and skills in good light, thus setting examples and changing the norms of stereotypical roles offered. They made sure that their foundation was strong enough for other directors to approach them only if they have chunky, relevant roles that do not weigh women down in order to portray their “cuteness” or “beauty”. Here’s our pick of four such young, versatile actresses:

 

1. Parvathi Menon

 

 

Give her the role of a tree and she could bring out emotions from that. Parvathi Menon is by far one of the most talented actresses the South Indian cinema has ever seen. Be it in ‘Mariyan’ where she was recognized for her intelligent acting or in ‘Charlie’ where she provided another dimension to women travellers, one could go sit in a Parvathi film and be surprised with every scene. Her way of looking at films and choosing extremely different yet commercial roles stuns the movie buffs even today. For example, ‘Bangalore Days’ had a star cast of some immensely talented stars. However, Parvathi managed to stand out and established her character; creating a world of her own within that cinema – that’s exactly what she is good at – breaking barriers to shine.