Every so often, there is one question that pops up in the Kannada film industry — who is the reigning queen bee? In the past decade, Ramya has consistently staked her claim to that position, albeit with different competition over the years. But with the actress on a sabbatical from the industry, as she pursues her academic and political interests, the throne is empty and up for grabs.
We conducted a dipstick poll across society and asked people their choice for the contender based on various factors including talent, popularity and recall value, among others. Going by the results, it would seem that Ramya is still the clear favourite, but there's a divided house in choosing the next contender.
The others
Radhika Pandit, Ragini Dwivedi and Aindrita Ray lead the pack as the next in line, followed by Kriti Kharbanda and Pooja Gandhi, going by the votes we received. But not one stands out as the single-most popular name to be crowned the heiress-apparent.
While people chose Radhika for her talent, Aindrita's votes seemed to be for her looks and unforgettable hit songs. Ragini's votes were because of "her looks and oomph factor", said respondents. Other names who figured in the list include Amulya, Shwetha Srivatsav and Priya Mani, among others.
Missing Ramya
Nearly 50% of the voters said that they couldn't think of anyone beyond Ramya in terms of mass appeal. When probed further, one of the respondents said, "Ramya has this brattish personality and an X factor, which helped her become the star that she is. And that seems to be missing in the newer lot." Another said, "She was pretty big and I haven't heard of anyone else who matches up to her level."
A leading Kannada star adds, "At present, I don't see one single person having a huge fan following or craze." Bengaluru agrees.
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