‘Sridevi dominated South industry with Sadma, my sister Bhanupriya faced a tough competition in Bollywood’: Shanthi Priya

Talking about the South industry being male dominated, she shared that this wasn’t the case. She said, “When we talk about a male-dominated industry, and now feminism, the conversation has just gotten too much. If people had to take a certain path, they did. Nobody was forced, I and my sister never compromised or took any shortcuts.”

Watch Shanthi Priya’s full interview here:

Shanthi Priya also added, “Down South, we always believed that the director was given the most importance, then came the hero, and then the heroine. At that time, hero-oriented movies were made because they would pull the crowd. But then Sridevi did a film like Sadma where she brought people to theatres. So then, she dominated the industry. Even Vyjayanthimala was quite respected.” Shanthi Priya also recalled the era when Jayalalitha ruled the South industry. “Jayalalithaji has ruled the industry, there were female artists also who were treated with great respect. She used to dictate terms when I joined the industry. I heard that she would only have Bisleri water on set, she used to fully tape her feet,” Shanth Priya recalled.

Shanthi Priya also discussed how, back in the 80s and 90s, actresses in the  South used to slash their fees for good roles. She said, “If it was a female-oriented film, even if the budget was less, we used to say yes, but if it was a glamorous role where we just had four scenes, we would hike our price. If the director wanted us, they would pay us. Similarly, if the story was strong, we would also reduce our fees because we didn’t want it to go to another artist. I have also reduced fees for my Telugu films.”

Shanthi Priya’s sister Bhanupriya was one of the biggest rivals of actress Sridevi at the time. Talking about this rivalry, she said, “In the Indian film industry, my sister has proved herself as an actress multiple times. She was always compared to Shivaji Ganesan Sir. But she had tough competition; she even went through a lot when she came to Bollywood. Some people even tried to cover her in a certain aspect, she was not very happy being in Bollywood, and she thought sitting in a hotel room did not make much sense, when there was more demand for her down South. So she went back to the South after doing a couple of movies here.”

While Shanthi Priya expressed concerns over actresses getting secondary roles after marriages, she wishes to do quality work now that she is making her comeback.