After Bollywood super star Sunny Deol, there are now Tollywood film stars Arya and Aishwarya, who have blazed the tinsel trail in Baragarh spa, Solang ski resort and historic Naggar castle for the last couple of days in the tourist town of Manali.
Tollywood stars scanned the snow-capped Valley of Gods as Kullu-Manali is feted among the tourists all over the world. “The snowy Manali is more beautiful than Switzerland and is an excellent locale for shooting”, quipped Tamil actors and director as soon as they moved into the Baragarh spa and resort in historic Naggar, which once used to be the capital of the erstwhile Kullu kings, for the shooting of the Tamil film.
Not only Bollywood the Tollywood stars and directors are heading Manali, Shimla and other locations in Himachal Pradesh after the pandemic hit the film industry in India and Indian economy as a whole. Now everything are in recovery mode including film industry, the film makers said.
“There was a time when the directors and stars would feel the pinch due to lack of good facility in Kullu-Manali, but today Manali provide them with facilities as good as they get in Europe and other countries”, said Nakul Khullar, who runs the Baragarh spa, who is also an apple and kiwi farmer, besides one of a hospitality sector leaders in Himachal as well.
“We have most precious assets- Himalaya- that Nature has blessed us with. Rest is in human hands and one can learn from the best practices in the industry” , said Gunal Khullar, his son, who is learning hospitality management at the University of Surrey, London.
The director of the film, Shakti Soundar Rajan, who has many popular Tamil films to his kitty, and his local coordinator Anil Kaista, have kept the story of the film close to their chest, citing “trade secret”. His unit is out for the shooting locales in Solang ski resort, Naggar castle along with stars Arya and Aishwarya. His most popular films of Rajan’s are Teddy, Muruthan and Tik Tik Tik.
Arya, his stage name, is born in a Malayali family. He is a technocrat-turned-Tollywood actor, who has put in about 17 years in commercial cinema. Arya rose to fame when he got the Filmfare award. His most popular films are Sarpatta Paramba, Enemy, Raaja Rani and Teddy. He is also a popular South Indian TV shows star.
On the other hand, Aishwarya Lekshmi has also made her cut in the popular South Indian cinema not only as an actor, but also as a model. She has created her niche in both Tamil and Malayan films in a short span of time. Aishwarya made her debut in 2017 in Njandukalude Nattil Oridavela film. Her popular films are Mayaana, Jagame Thandhir, Varathan and Ponniyin Selvan in both Tamil and Malayan.
As South Indian stars are making beeline for Manali for shooting, the tourists from the South India will also come in droves as the cinema is popular mode of entertainment and social promotion in South, said Khullar.
Tollywood has produced a slew of super stars of the likes of MGR, Hema Malini, Jaya Lalitha, Rajnikanth and Kamala Hasan, to name but a few, who have also made their mark in Bollywood and politics as well.
From its start from “Naaigal Jaakirathai Keechakavatham in 1916, Tamil Cinema today has become as prominent as Bollywood in its about 106 years old journey down the line. Today, Tollywood boasts of producing box office big grossers of the likes of Annatthae, Rs 200 crore in November 2021. But perhaps the biggest is “Master”, a Tamil film by Lokesh Kanag Raj that grossed phenomenal Rs 300 crore in 2021 in worldwide box office”, revealed the online ratings.
