u/Fun-Sky2301

Some of these options may be news to you.

The first choices for Krishnan are Mohanlal and Nana Patekar.
The first choice for Malini was Mohini.
The first choices for Meghna were Asin and Deepika Padukone.
The first choices for Priya were Genelia, Bhavana, and Andrea.

It is hard to imagine anyone else after watching Surya, Simran, Sameera, and Divya in these iconic roles. Who do you think may have been as good or interesting in these roles?

For fun

Your favorite badass woman?

In today’s world, I feel we’re seeing actors in strong roles getting praised for performances where the writing did most of the heavy lifting or created an illusion of greatness, rather than the performers’ own acting chops carrying the day.

A common pitfall is interpreting a lack of expression or a flat delivery as "subtle" or "understated" acting. When the script demands the character be a "man or woman of few words" a weak actor can hide behind a blank stare, and it is often misread as a deliberate, artistic choice or the writing itself will uplift the performance.

A couple of performances that come to mind where the performers were praised for their acting in these roles but actually came across as very limited and flat IMO.

First, Pooja Hegde in Retro. It wasn’t the greatest role, but it served as a plot device for the hero’s self discovery. Her performance was praised by fans and critics, but I personally felt she was a misfit for the part. Other than the tacky brown face makeup, her ability to emote didn’t come through as expected and lacked the intensity nor matched the flair of Suriya’s performance, especially during the violent moments. I appreciate her for trying to dub, but it very much sounded like a non native speaker with a flat delivery. Maybe a performer like Anjali or even Amala Paul would have been more apt for the role.

Another one is Meenakshi in Lucky Bhaskar. She was acclaimed for the part, but she very much acted like she sleepwalked through the role with the character doing a lot of heavy lifting. The actress lacks the spark and fire that could have elevated it. The strong writing,a mother confronting her family and husband masked it and made it seem like a great performance. Simran used to display that intensity in similar roles in her earlier days, which could have worked wonderfully in Lucky Bhaskar, but it looked flat to me IMO.

Similarly, which performance by an actor or actress was widely praised but personally made you feel that the performer themselves was inadequate?

Simran and Rambha are two of the most accomplished dancers in Tamil and Telugu cinema from the late 1990s. While both have distinct styles, they are highly competent dancers who can adapt to any style. Whose dance style do you prefer more, and why? Which number is your favorite?

Whenever he performs I feel like he tries too hard to be that relatable local guy but looks unnatural.

If this cast had continued Suvalaxmi could have been the one to pair up with the younger Vijay, Ajith, Vikram, and Surya.

After the era of the “Big 3” Simran, Jothika, and Laila Tamil cinema saw a noticeable decline in the quality of lead actresses imported from North India for big films. Thamanah may be the only one who did well with the right roles.
Before them, performers like Sonia Agarwal and Reema Sen were relatively quiet but delivered solid work, looks pretty, and got strong lead roles for the most part where they are equal to the male lead. Unfortunately, after the Big 3, we largely ended up with substandard performers like Hansika, Rakul Preet, Kajal Aggarwal, and Sayyesha.

Thoughts?

I believe Shriya is the best overall dancer but Asin owns this genre over Shriya. Rank the actresses in your opinion.
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Despite the serious allegations and initial industry backlash, Jani Master has continued landing choreography gigs on major films. The film industry has shown selective accountability in his case, allowing him to work on big budget projects. Jani isn’t even that good but people think it’s ok to give him more work. On top of that the actors dancing this are not going to say anything. Heroines are in a pitiful state even if they are a product of nepotism but what about the heroes? Especially Anirudh since this is not a film project and just some random gig for his own label that no one asked for and has full control over who is a part of it. Your thoughts?

He deserves better stories and love from the audience for his acting

Your opinions?