OOMPH knows no geographical boundaries. That's one area where the North-South bias blurs. The frontbencher from Nasik ogles Sridevi, the sexy southerner, just as the Tiruchi thambi goes gaga over north Indian star Khushboo.
While strangely enough, regional heroes can never make it big outside their territory, southern actresses, be it Sridevi, Hema Malini, Rekha or Meenakshi Seshadri, have had a strong hold in Bombay since the 1950s when Raj Kapoor introduced the idli sambar beauties. With Vyjanthimala and Padmini, the sangam had begun. And now, Sushmita Sen is heading south of the Vindhyas. She and fellow beauty queen Aishwarya Rai of Karnataka, after conquering the universe and the world, are heading for Kodambakkam in Tamil Nadu to kick off their film careers in Mani Ratnam's and K.T. Kunjumon's films respectively. Never mind if they can't get a word of Telugu or Tamil right. As Raveena Tandon said "this is fun" before shaking a leg for a Telugu film.
In India's movieland, North and South, far from being divisive labels, are exotic tags to label the 'Aiyaiyo' gang or the 'Bap re bap' brigade. With all the creamy skins and voluptuous vamps, fans of the fantasy world firmly believe in the policy of love thy neighbour.
