Tamil cinema has always been dominated by girls from outside Tamilnadu right from the days of MGR- Sivaji. Even today in the era of modernity the Tamil filmdom has Mumbai girls at the top .Why is it so? Industry pundits say that Tamil girls are surely flocking to the producers but the directors and the artistes are bitten by the Mumbai bug and to them any girl from Mumbai is a beauty and any girl from Kerala is a nice ` kutty' and an Andhra girl is a hot chilli. But whereas a Madurai or Coimbatore lass is very local.

It was very evident when the recent film Pukazh starring Sarath Kumar had two heroines- Sangavi and Poonam Sengar. They play Tamil ponnu ( girl)- one is a teashop vendor and another a daughter of an estate owner. In real life Sangavi is from Mysore and Poonam from Mumbai.Right from Ambika- Radha to Gauthami and Kushboo to Simran who is today's numero uno, all these heroines are non-tamilians. And very soon Simran is going to be replaced by another Mumbai beauty Jyothika (sister of Nagma, the ex numero uno) as the former is dropping out from the movies for her marriage is on the cards. In the early days also the Kerala sisters Lalita- Ragini- Padmini and then Saroja Devi, Bhanumathi, Savithiri, K R Vijaya were at the top and who have been from outside Tamilnadu.

A veteran actress like Manorama has no answer as to why the girls of Tamilnadu did not shine in their own state. But she feels that basically the society in Tamilnadu adores and reveres heroines and is ready to build a temple but they do not want to send their daughters to films. The reason for this that the Kodambakkam crowd of Chettiars, Mudaliars and a few Nadars who with agricultural interests have spoilt the image of filmdom. Exploiting women from the small towns and cities and then giving them small roles and finally relegated to junior artistes and prostitutes has developed a mortal fear of this field in the society.Yet another reason is the lifestyle of film stars that are reported in the press. A revered leader like MGR had a relationship with costar Jayalalitha and writer Karunanidhi has two wives while poet laureate (late) Kannadasan has today many off springs born out of many wives.

It's a known fact that the casting couch is very much rampant in films and its exhibitionistic streak in the Tamilians that has scared off good girls. The Sarath- Naghma affair, Prabhu- Kushboo marriage are all examples that the industry has set to the public. The Mumbai girls score where the Tamil girls shy away. Their white skin,Mumbai English, extrovert nature (read having a drink and going out for a disco) and to dress seductively gives the directors and producers the hots.The mother or ayah knows to look the other way. The plump actress who has a temple built by her fans was seen sitting on every producers lap in Mumbai and she found in south a haven because here they gave her money and roles and off screen and outside the bedroom they called her `amma'. The girls who migrate from Kerala and Andhra come with desperation to make it big and this `drive' is what makes them comfortable in Chennai.

The two famous sisters of Tamil cine field were the only assests that their mother peddled, to make her money and life for her daughters. Urvasi and sisters too came with only their bagage and it was Bhagyaraj who used, abused and made Urvasi into a star.the tall heroine from Vizag with all her engineering dropout background and parents being doctor etc., she hit big time only after she latched on to a political leader who also financed films.

The director who has a fascination to rename his heroines with the alphabet "R" had one of his 'R's as his in house girl, a daughter of an army officer and who later married and settled down. She is now starting her first directorial venture with her women crew.The non-Tamil heroines, who have made big in Kollywood, have built their houses and bank balances and settled down in Chennai where they get a wall drawn around them to keep them away from social criticism. And back home they cannot get into a shell and shirk off answering the embarrassing questions.For instance, Kushboo today has no roots in Mumbai and Naghma who keeps flying down to Chennai has two bungalows and looks after sis dates. Simran has bought a house in Hyderabad because her hubby (Raju) lives in Chennai and so she wants to be away.

Devyani who came from Mumbai is firmly settled down in Chennai and bye to Mumbai. Roja who was staying in a lodge in Chennai is settled in Chennai with director Selvamani. Rambha who stayed in one room apartment in Chennai hit big time with her thigh display and today she has a big bungalow and imported cars. Meena whose mother is a Malayali actress of yesteryears too manipulated filmdom to hit it big.Even today the mod beauty queens of Chennai and hailing from Tamilnadu are not keen to join films and only the Punjabi- Malayali beauties are keen to sign up films.

The craze for Mumbai beauties is spreading like fire, even the state ministers want only Mumbai kuddies and so we have a Priety Zinta fly in and out and a minister has a heart attack! The only thing that Tamil filmdom is sure about is its heroes; they want only pure blood Tamizh.

Alphonsa Attempts Suicide

Alphonsa, the vampish dancer who is a major attraction in many of the hit films including mega starrers of Rajanikanth and Mohanlal attempted suicide likeViji. But fortunately was saved by the doctors of the city hospital in Chennai.This luscious vamp had got prominence through dance sequence in Baasha of Rajanikanth and from then was featured in many Tamil films and later became a hit in Malayalam films . Her recent hit film in Malayalam was Mohanlal's Narsimhamam . With the start of the soft porn wave she was in demand in Malayalam and she acted in the film Parva Mazhai ( youthful rain) where she acted opposite Sagar .
Sagar,a married man did not stop from starting off a torrid affair with her and even promised to marry her as he is a Muslim. However things soured up and Alphonsa attempted suicide by taking an overdose of pills.She was rushed to Soorya hospital in Chennai and saved by the doctors. The matter was hushed up and not reported to the cops. She had recently built a new bungalow in Saligramam ( Chennai) and leading a very cushy life . Rajanikanth's soft corner for her was said to be the reason for her riches. Her brother is also a dancer in films.

Prakashraj in loin cloth

Prakashraj whose penchant for doing offbeat roles had recently got critical praise for his performance in Appu directed by Vasanth promises to give yet another offbeat peformance in Little John directed by Singeetham. Srinivasa Rao. In the movie he is going to act as Bhiravan the swami with evil powers and is supposed to have been living for the past 2000 years to get the mookuthi (nose ring). Speaking about his role, Prakashraj said that he had to sit before the makeup man from 5 am to get ready for a 9 am shot. His hairdo and facial features are all redone. "His Costumes? Only this loincloth " said Prakashraj with a guffaw.