How lady superstars from Manju Warrier to Trisha are changing the script when it comes to film roles women get after 40

South film heroines like Manju Warrier, Rashmika Mandanna and Trisha are pushing back against arbitrary rules around age and marital status that have traditionally prevented women from taking lead roles in the movies. (Images via Instagram)

The last thing one expects to go viral in an Anirudh Ravichander song featuring Rajinikanth is its leading lady and her dancing moves. But that’s exactly what’s made the superstar’s upcoming Tamil film Vettaiyan’s song go viral. The heroine is neither a newcomer to such “surprise success” nor is she a young, upcoming actress to garner newfound popularity. Manju Warrier (age 46) is the real deal when it comes to “lady superstars”.

Quiet, dignified and always on the move with her job, her sportive smile even when faced with personal adversity in the wake of a toxic marriage to actor Dileep and a divorce thereafter, she has been most sought-after heroine for over two decades in Malayalam film. Manju Warrier’s current ‘gen-Z’ craze is a welcome phenomenon and is proof for her immense talent. Her dance moves in the song "Manasilaayo" in 'Vettaiyan', expected to release on October 10, no doubt adding a fun side to her repertoire, with her dance moves and its BTS coming in for huge praise from across the board.

Her ‘comeback’ after her marital discord is the stuff of legend now. Manju Chechi (Chechi meaning sister in Malayalam) as she’s lovingly referred to among most Malayalis, has also found that one big Tamil film to constantly prove her mettle in the last few years.

She packed a few kick-ass punches in an action avatar as Ajithkumar’s partner-in-crime in 'Thunivu' (Valor-2023). She also sent a shiver up the spine in Vetrimaaran’s 'Asuran' (Demon-2019) along with Dhanush. But these one off non-Malayalam movie outings apart, Manju did strike gold when she was offered Rajinikanth’s 2024 Diwali release 'Vettaiyan', where she plays the superstar’s wife.

Manju Warrier and Rajinikanth’s 2024 Diwali release 'Vettaiyan'. (Image via Instagram)" width="1080" height="1080" /> Still from Manju Warrier and Rajinikanth’s 2024 Diwali release 'Vettaiyan'. (Image via Instagram)

Now, all of the above would’ve been seen as ordinary has Manju been a single, under-30 heroine. But here she is in her mid-forties and still on top of her game. The fact that she’s kept her core competency intact irrespective of her personal turmoil goes to show her immense commitment to her craft. While women have the additional job of having to look picture-perfect all the time, Manju in her off-screen moments, comes across as a fit, no-makeup and somewhere a no-nonsense person, whose days are spent shuttling between shooting sets for brands and movies across Kerala and Tamilnadu.

The acceptance of a heroine for decades also shows how as an audience we have evolved to accept heroines who are not merely young and glam, with female leads defying ageism in their quest for career excellence. Needless to say that whatever they do to their bodies and faces to retain their glow is something that’s personal to each heroine and if it adds to their longevity, good health and on-screen appeal, then what's there to complain about?

In the '80s and '90s the “shelf life” of a heroine was barely seven to ten years. But now we are celebrating hashtags like “twenty years of Trisha”. Actor Vijay spoke of Trisha thus at the 'Leo' movie success event, “It is easy for a twenty-year-old girl to become a heroine, but for a girl to retain her status as a top heroine for twenty years… now that, that is super tough.”

Vijay summed up Trisha’s career in a single line. Trisha as everyone knows preferred sitting at home to playing supporting roles that didn’t give her much to do. Today, her gamble has paid off. Her cameo as Rajinikanth’s wife in 'Pettai' (2019) notwithstanding, her ruling the box-office came with her role as Princess Kunthavai in Maniratnam’s 'PonniyinSelvan' films, where her famous face-off scene with Aishwarya Rai and off-screen bonding with her came in for much praise.

Then came 'Leo' and her super hit pairing with Vijay, and Trisha hasn’t looked back ever since. Having crossed 40 years in age, she is still the most probable name to look for the top tier heroes and has two films with Ajith - 'Vidamuyarchi' (Perseverance), a 2024 Diwali release perhaps, and 'Good Bad Ugly' - and a film each with superstars in Telugu and Malayalam as well. Her OTT debut 'Brinda' in Telugu (on SonyLIV) was also a smash-hit and that makes her career circle complete as her name now makes a difference to both solo stories and mainstream commercials.

Something that Nayanthara has been famous for too. It is a big deal for a heroine to do solo films and sell the project on their name mainly. Nayanthara balanced her solo-lead films and her lead-pairing films and reached a peak with Shah Rukh Khan’s 'Jawan', all with her marriage to director Vignesh Shivan and her twin children in tow. Earlier on, from the black-and-white era to the '90s, heroines who were married and had babies would have to make a comeback as either the pair for the older hero or as a stand-alone avenging angel or ‘older person’ in a film. Nayanthara managed to break this mould, and today has a business number on her own steam that makes it possible for newcomer directors to write roles just for her.

Anushka Shetty in Telugu took a long break post the 'Bahubali' films and came back to dazzle with a rather low-key film that had a strong story in its core. 'Miss Shetty and Mr Polishetty' (2023) was that “woke” Telugu film that warmed many a heart. No one expected Anushka to make her “comeback” with a romantic comedy, but she did so with aplomb in that film (now available on Netflix), and paired with a new-age stand-up comic and lead actor Naveen Polishetty. Her upcoming film is a pan-Indian one made in Malayalam. Now who would think she would choose a film like that? But it’s her name that adds much to the film’s marketability.

Anushka Shetty in Telugu blockbuster 'Bahubali' (Image via Instagram)

In any other era, such a move would be taken as disastrous for a top heroine. But for any of the girls mentioned above, it is a challenge to remain single, divorced, in a relationship or married and yet retain a credible fan following.

To keep the on-screen and off-screen personas separate was something only heroes were able to pull off earlier. Now it is heartening to see women do the same with a lot of style and panache. There are the ‘performance favourites too” who aren’t young when you take their birthdate into account for a regular heroine. But then these two powerhouse performers aren’t regular by any means. Parvathy Thiruvothu and Nithya Menen have truly redefined the term “pan-Indian” with their multi-lingual proficiency and undeniable presence in films from five States.

Winning awards and recognitions across the film industries, this year saw both of them win big. While Nithya’s endearing Shobana from 'Thiruchitrambalam' (2022) won her the National award, Parvathy’s performance as Gangamma in Pa Ranjit’s 'Thangalaan' (2024) where she stands shoulder-to-shoulder with its leading man Vikram, has come in for a lot of praise.

It is important to note that these women are not in their twenties. The top rung of this success ladder begins with women who are in their forties. It is great to have women achievers in cinema whose popularity, appeal and influence on a generation is not bound by their age or marital status.

Hindi cinema was able to see this change when heroines like Kajol, Tabu and Kareena Kapoor Khan refused to be slotted in inconsequential “mommy roles”. A Madhuri Dixit still makes a considerable difference to the marketing of a film or series. But in the south, this was almost unheard of until the era of Trisha - Nayanthara - Manju Warrier - Anushka and Samantha (the latter whose Instagram handle has the most to offer from her business interests in several diverse fields other than cinema or her private life).

Samantha reigns across Tamil and Telugu and has done everything unconventional, including the hot number in 'Pushpa 1' that was a sort of ‘comeback’ from her divorce. Moving on from an influential film family, staying on in the same city (she could’ve shifted to her maternal home Chennai) and carving her own superstar niche with her name adding more to a movie than the leading man, Sam, as she is affectionately called is a warrior-woman who comes across as gently in her firmness as a feather that can break a rock.

Be it as a pair for a leading man or a solo lead, Jyotika has never donned a role that could be dispensed with easily. (Shaitaan poster)

Then there are the “single girls” (no, not twenty-somethings again) Shruti Hassan (whose candid and feisty social media posts makes her an “Insta-Guru”), Tamannah (whose long innings in Tamil and Telugu is yet another proof of a heroine’s longevity) Keerthy Suresh (who also has films in various languages and whose acting talent is never in question), Aishwarya Rajesh (who would’ve done the maximum number of solo films after Nayanthara), Varalakshmi Sarathkumar (who got married recently and whose vociferous persona makes her stand up to major heroes on-screen) and Rashmika Mandanna (the sole under 30 name in this list, who is buzz of Telugu and Hindi cinema currently). Above these names are the '90s queens – Simran, Jyotika, Sneha who still give the trade a lot to talk about when they sign a film.

Be it as a pair for a leading man or a solo lead, Jyotika has never donned a role that could be dispensed with easily. Her strong and stoic stand to play roles of substance has taken her back to the Hindi shores with 'Shaitaan’s' huge success. Simran also had a 'Shaalimaar' and continues to play solid characters in Tamil (the whispers in the film corridors say that Simran is the leading lady for Vijay in his 69th film before he jumps into electoral politics in Tamil Nadu).

It's heartening also to see the Vijay-starrer 'GOAT': his older character has a younger arc in the film that called for a heroine from the '90s to play his wife. Sneha (now much married to actor Prasanna and mother of two) played the wife and the pair reprised their chemistry that harks back to the 2003 Tamil film 'Vaseegara' that was hugely successful then. Sneha is one of the best casting decisions by director Venkatprabhu in 'GOAT' and she has come in for a lot of appreciation for the way she carried herself in the film while keenly lending an emotional and comedy partnership to Vijay, the film essentially being a ‘boys club outing’.

It is important to applaud our leading ladies when they take a stand saying they won’t play random roles. Our writers and directors must come up with more characters for our women. Producers with a standing and financial backing must engage in projects that have a heroine as the leading name for marketing the film, if the story so demands. Also, terms like “women-centric” “revenge-drama” “chick-flick” must go out of fashion. Hindi cinema has managed to bring about some visibility, standing and ‘market’ for its heroines. But even in Hindi, it is still tough to assemble a film that has a woman as its lead character (the genre notwithstanding). In the South, despite the names mentioned in this article achieving so much, it is tougher to assemble scripts that have women leading the way. This situation can change if the demand and supply curves arrive at a meeting point. The film has to work overall for the business-chain to find a reasonable value in casting women as solo or equal leads. And for this to happen, writers and directors must write more solid roles for women to play, and producers must encourage such writing and casting.

It’s obvious that the film audience in the South have accepted our heroines irrespective of their age or personal status. So what is stopping the production of more and more women-centric films or top tier movies that have a solid role for the woman too?

At the time of writing, Manju Warrier (who’s perhaps the oldest in the list of names mentioned in this piece) has the following list of films coming up, one each with Mohanlal (Malayalam 'Empuraan L2'), Rajinikanth (Tamil 'Vettaiyan'), Vijay Sethupathy (Tamil Vetrimaaran’s 'Viduthalai2'), Arya (Tamil 'Mr X') and a couple of solo-lead Malayalam films.

Actress Radhika Sarathkumar correctly said that “we are forever celebrating milestones and longevity only for the men in the movie business”.

Isn’t it time to call a heroine like Manju Warrier a legend?