Amid recent conversations around the objectification of women in commercial South cinema following the Peddi discourse, actor Tamannaah Bhatia reflected on the expectations placed on female stars in the industry, saying she has often found the space more restrictive than it appears.
Speaking to Forbes India, Tamannaah spoke about the contrasting demands of Hindi cinema and South Indian film industries, particularly from the perspective of women actors trying to build lasting careers.
According to the actor, Hindi cinema creates room for performers to choose a lane, either leaning towards more performance-driven roles or embracing mainstream glamour-led entertainers. She noted that only a handful of actors manage to sustain both and eventually become stars.
However, Tamannaah suggested that commercial South cinema functions differently. Looking back at her early years in the industry, she said she began to understand why some people describe the environment through terms associated with a male-centric lens. “When I entered the South industry, I understood why people might call it many names. Like it's a very specific gaze. It's a patriarchal sort of vibe or it's a gaze that's not very complimentary,” she said.
The actor explained that in mainstream South Indian cinema, women are often expected to satisfy multiple requirements simultaneously and carry emotionally demanding scenes while also delivering glamour, dance numbers and conventional star appeal.
Tamannaah added that longevity for heroines in the space frequently comes from managing that balance successfully. In her view, the industry’s commercial ecosystem can, in some ways, be equally or even more limiting because of those expectations.
Her comments arrive at a time when debates around the portrayal of women in South Indian cinema have resurfaced online, particularly after discussions around objectification in Peddi and how female characters continue to be framed in commercial storytelling.
Tamannaah also weighed in on dance tracks and rejected the label of “item songs,” preferring to think of them as celebratory or party numbers. She pointed out that songs can sometimes transcend the films they belong to and enter popular culture independently, citing tracks associated with actors such as Kareena Kapoor and Katrina Kaif as examples.
On the professional front, Tamannaah was last seen in Odela 2. She will next feature in Vvan alongside Sidharth Malhotra, which is slated for release this year. She also has Ragini MMS 3, backed by Balaji Motion Pictures, in the pipeline.
