Would Karthika and Thulasi emulate Ambika and Radha?

Thulasi Nair-kathika Nair

Industry-watchers predict that young guns Karthika Nair and Thulasi Nair, daughters of actress Radha, might end up having a long and successful run at the box-office much the same way as their mother Radha and her own sister Ambika dominated the Tamil film industry throughout the eighties.

Ambika and Radha debuted in Tamil as heroines in 1981 in Andha Ezhu Naatkal and Alaigal Oyvathillai respectively in that order. It was the first outing for Radha on silver-screen while Ambika had already starred in quite a few Malayalam films. The sisters went on to become leading heroines and starred opposite the likes of (late) Sivaji Ganesan, superstar Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan, Vijaykanth, K. Bhagyaraj, Sathyaraj, Karthik and Prabhu in many super-hit films besides starring together in a few films.

Almost in a similar manner, 20-year old elder sister Karthika first debuted as heroine in a Telugu film which didn’t do wonders to her career before successfully debuting in Tamil with Ko. After Ko, Karthika hasn’t had any film releasing for close to two years now and is banking heavily on veteran director Bharathiraaja’s Annkodiyum Kodiveeranum to make a mark in Kollywood as an actress of substance. She has also bagged Deal opposite Arun Vijay who has delivered some significant hits in the past 3-4 years.

Thulasi Nair, the 15-year old second and younger daughter of Radha, debuts as heroine in Tamil films with ace director Maniratnam’s Kadal and has been pitted opposite another debutant in Gautham Karthik (son of actor Karthik). It would be interesting to see how Karthika and Thulasi fare opposite today’s leading stars such as Ajith and Vijay. Thulasi had already gone on record saying that she is a fan of Suriya and Vijay.

Even before the release of her first film Kadal, Thulasi has bagged a prestigious project in Yaan opposite Jiiva to be directed by cinematographer Ravi K. Chandran. There is, therefore, every possibility that the sisters might become as successful and as popular as Radha and Ambika.