Big-break babes

Deepika is the leggy Manglorean lass who the camera can’t stop romancing. Ace photographer Atul Kasbekar, who has shot her at length, says, “She’s a phenomenal model and has the makings of the next big superstar. She is a classic Indian beauty like a Madhuri Dixit or Rani Mukerji. Her appeal lies in her eyes.”
A successful Liril girl, Deepika not only sizzled as a model on the 2006 Kingfisher Swimsuit Calendar but has also made her mark as Maybeline’s international cover face. She charmed the Kannada box-office with her screen presence in her debut film Aishwarya and director Farah Khan is confident she will set the screen on fire.

“Deepika is in my film because she is the best and I wanted a fresh pairing opposite Shah Rukh, who could hold her own,” says Farah. “As the role is of a leading lady of the ’70s Bollywood, I couldn’t use Aishwarya or Rani as they are signature ’90s heroines. Deepika has the body language of a south Indian actress, which she plays in the film to perfection. She’s a fabulous dancer and can do everything that a commercial Bollywood actress needs to do to make her mark. She has the poise and grace of a Hema Malini and, like Madhuri, is a total pataka of a dancer,” says Farah.

Sonam, unlike Deepika, is the mystery wrapped in the enigma. This young woman, who looks a lot like her mother, was a student at United World College in Singapore for two years, where she got hooked on to Bertolt Brecht. She returned home to assist Sanjay Leela Bhansali on the sets of Black. The director saw the spark of stardom in her. At a hefty 80 kg, Sonam was hardly heroine material but Bhansali oversaw her transformation into a beauty in the classic mode for his Rs 35-crore romantic saga Saawariya. Bhansali calls her “the young Rekha” and industry watchers are already drawing parallels with the Dimple Kapadia of Bobby (1973). Dad Anil Kapoor is delighted at the attention she is getting. “I was pleasantly surprised by her performance when I saw the rushes of Saawariya. Though I am yet to see the film in full, it’s spectacular to say the least. I find it a bit odd answering queries on her acting. Let her work speak. But being Sanjay’s protégé speaks for itself,” he says.
The contender from Ernakulam in Kerala, Asin Thottumkal—already a 23-year-old mega star—started modelling at 14 and took her first shot on celluloid when she was barely 18. With a range of films in Malayalam, Telugu and Tamil in her kitty, Asin is already a pro at handling big projects. From a non-film background (her father is a businessman and mother a doctor), she broke the jinx of being a non-starter in the Tamil film industry (most of her initial projects were shelved or failed to take-off) to become its numero uno actress. Kamala Hasan’s Dasavatharam is her next big release. She was also the perfect choice for the female lead of the Aamir Khan production of Ghajini, leaving the Priyanka Chopras and the Ayesha Takias behind. A.R. Murugadoss, who directed the original, says, “No one could match her. She was our best choice for the Hindi film too.’’ Asin’s combination of glamour and innocence, Murugadoss says, will work in Bollywood. “She does not have the typical south Indian look and personality and is bound to be accepted well by the audience in the north,” he says. Ghajini could well give Bollywood another Sridevi.

The dark horse of the group is Ferena Wazier, the Mumtaz Mahal of AR Rahman’s video on the Taj. She will enact an eclectic line-up of characters ranging from a Pakistani girl in Oscar-winning director Danis Tanovic’s (No Man’s Land) next film to another author-backed role in Soni Razdan’s Amritsar: A Love Story (based on Manju Kapoor’s Difficult Daughters). She has also bagged a three-movie deal with a corporate house. Director Mehta compares her to “Greta Garbo, as she has that kind of old-world face and persona.” The RADA-trained actress, who is often compared to Katrina Kaif because of her UK upbringing, says, “Our film journeys are different. I don’t have a diction problem in spite of having grown up in Scotland. I am a Kashmiri by birth and our family has maintained the roots and cultural sensibilities well. Being a film student my sensibilities are international, but I have grown up on good old black and white Hindi films. The escapism of traditional Bollywood appeals to me equally and talks are on a few such projects too. The bottomline for me is to portray good, well-written characters.”

Deepa Sahi, the producer of Rang Rasiya, says, “She is a natural actress with a liquid, malleable voice.” Mehta believes “the Ferena bundle of skills will survive in all kinds of cinema as traditional concepts, confines and approaches to cinema are frequently intermingling and changing.”

Agrees Sahi, “Once people see her in Rang Rasiya, doors to Bollywood will also open for her, though I would like to see her in an intelligent commercial film.”

Never mind the cocktail of talent and beauty, the four young women have a long way to go. “In box-office returns, there’s nothing like a heroine-oriented film anymore,” says Adarsh. But as trade analyst Komal Nahata points out, “There’s a vacuum of fresh young faces in Bollywood today and the talented ones will make a mark.” “The long term differential is going to be talent for a sustained pitch at the big league,” says film writer Rauf Ahmed.
So what lies ahead—stardust or starry heights? The silver screen has the answers.
(With inputs by Jaya Menon)