By Sameer Wadekar, Bollywood Trade News Network

For so many years now, Bollywood actors been migrati' towards South in search of better prospects. Over the years, many actors especially actresses have been regularly dabbling with South Indian flicks. Some of those actresses who couldn't make it big in Hindi films have made south their permanent abode. Nagma, Bhumika Chawla and Madhu are the most famous examples of them all. But even established heroines like Raveena Tandon, Urmila Matondkar, Manisha Koirala and Shilpa Shetty have featured in South Indian movies on and off. Just a few days back there was news that the gorgeous Ayesha Takia was in the race for the lead heroine's role in a Tamil flick opposite Rajnikant. The Tamil flick titled SIVAJI eventually went to a little known actress. But still, Ayesha has already got the Telugu film SUPER to boast about. SUPER starring Nagarjuna and Ayesha Takia is a big hit in Andhra and also the costliest Telugu film till date.

But why do Bollywood actors fly to the South and not to any other regional segments that often? The first reason could be that South Indian industry is as big as Bollywood. Talented filmmakers and actors operate down there. The infrastructure and the technical dazzle-dazzle are as competitive as ay Hindi film is. People like Manirathnam, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Shankar and Priyadarshan are influential in their own right and command great regards all over the nation. Not only that, actors like Kamal Haasan, Rajnikant, Revathi and Nagarjuna have got a huge fan following; needless to say about the genius called A.R.Rahman. Secondly the distribution of South Indian movies especially Tamil and Telugu movies is first rate. Southern films have got huge patronage in the Middle East and few other Asian countries where there is a considerable South Indian population. And last but not the least is the money factor. Any actor in a South Indian film gets paid as much as a Hindi film star or to be frank more than a Hindi film star. Rajnikant has reportedly been paid Rs. 15 crore for his next film which is 4-5 times more than what superstars like Amitabh and Shahrukh are offered!

But of late, many Hindi stars have started opting for other regional films also especially Bengali films like Abhishek Bachchan, Soha Ali Khan and Jakie Shroff in the recent ANTAR MAHAL. Sajay Dutt's cameo appearance in Marathi film BHITI and singer Sonu Nigam playing the guest role in Sachin's super-hit Marathi film NAWRA MAAZA NAWSACHA also were noticeable. Amitabh Bachchan's walk-on part in the Kannada film AMRUTDHARE made the fans over there go berserk to catch a glimpse of the super-star. Similarly, Juhi Chawla also played a pivotal role in a Punjabi film opposite Gurdaas Mann. All these instances indicate that Hindi movie actors have gone receptive and are lookin' forward for better avenues and healthy assignments. Probably regional films offer something more exciting when it comes to displaying their potential and histrionics. And in turn this is really good for Indian cinema as a whole when there is a healthy exchange of talents between Bollywood and its regional counterparts!