A couple of T-town dream merchants have annoyed actresses by butchering their roles. After promising “equal significance” to all in multi-diva films, they’ve overtly favoured one actress over another during the editing.

Concerned that their hard work will go unnoticed, and unwilling to take this lying down any longer, a number of Telugu actresses are now expressing their “disappointment” when their roles are chopped or altered. Divas like Vimala Raman, Tapsee, Anjana Sukhani, Sneha Ullal, Mamta Mohandas and Tara Alisha have experienced this ordeal and are now wary of sharing screen space with other actresses.

Vimala Raman, among the actress to have suffered such ‘unkind cuts’ in Raaj says, “I was hugely disappointed with my shortened role since it wasn’t what they had initially promised me. The role kept changing in the making and totally dampened my spirits.” Debutante Anjana Sukhani cried hoarse that Don Seenu co-star Shriya Saran influenced director Gopichand and had Anjana’s role watered down. “I was a debutante so I couldn’t do much about it,” she says. And hottie Mamta Mohandas reportedly walked out of King when her role was cut. “I had some differences with the director but we sorted it out,” she says. But she is insistent that she would make a comeback only in a ‘solo’ heroine film.

Top actress Priyamani also says, “I mostly prefer solo heroine films to utilise my talent better.” The preference or the wisdom has come largely after sharing screen space with Anushka in Ragada. Debutante Tara Alisha had a miniscule role in 100% Love while Tammanah ruled the film. Gen X star Tapsee had her role scissored in a major way in Veera so that she ended up providing just the oomph factor. But she puts up a brave front denying it. Similarly, Sneha Ullal says she wasn’t disappointed in her reduced role in the hit Ala Modalaiyindi while debutante Nitya Menon hogged the limelight. “More than the role, I did that film to promote a refreshing theme and my special appearance gave a fillip to the romantic comedy,” she says.

Producer Bunny Vyas says of 100% Love, that “It was smooth sailing and we had no issues because both the actresses knew what they were doing and also understood the relevance of their characters.”
Summing up, director Vamsi Paidipally, who managed to balance the roles of Kaajal and Samantha in Brindavanam, says “We can avoid tiffs if the actresses are properly informed about their respective roles. Personally, I don’t think any director will scissor roles for personal reasons but sometimes the length or the progress of the narrative could determine such measures,” he says