Keerthy Suresh credits Nayanthara for championing female-centric films: ‘She started that’

Actor Keerthy Suresh, who is gearing up for the release of her Telugu film Dasara, opened up on the rise of strong female-centric projects and characters in the last few years in south Indian cinema. In a promotional interview, she credited Nayanthara for starting the trend of female-centric projects and said that it encouraged other women to take up more such projects. Also read: Keerthy Suresh leaves Rana Daggubati, Nani amused as she chugs down bottle of water without using her hands

In Dasara, Keerthy plays a character called Vennela. She has paired with Nani in the film, which has been directed by Odella Srikant.

In an interview with Gulte, Keerthy was asked about her take on the shift in the importance of female characters in Indian cinema. “I think we have to give it to Nayanthara maam because she was the one who started that (shift). If I’m not wrong with a film called Maya, and then eventually it started changing. She did that and other people (females) have gotten the opportunity to do such films. It’s because of her a lot of women thought they could pull off something by themselves which is great,” she said.

Keerthy recently gifted 130 gold coins to the crew of Dasara on the last day of the shoot. The gold coins were reportedly worth ₹70 lakh. The film’s publicist told HT that Keerthy did give a gold coin each to 130 crew members including drivers and light boys. “Yes, it is true that Keerthy ma’am gifted gold coins to every crew member of Dasara. This includes drivers and lights boys as well. However, I’m not sure about the worth of the gold coins and if they amount to ₹70 lakh,” he said.

Dasara is set in the backdrop of Singareni coal mines near Godavarikhani in Telangana. Nani had recently described it as “pure raw, rustic, and adrenaline-rush” of a film. Speaking at the teaser launch, Nani said, “Last year, RRR came from Telugu cinema. KGF and Kantara came from Kannada cinema. I can confidently and with a lot of pride say that Dasara will come from Telugu cinema in 2023.”

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