The new face of female action in South cinema: Samantha, Priety and Abhirami

What makes Maa Inti Bangaaram and Blast stand out isn't that women are performing the action, but that they do so without sacrificing character, emotion or believability.

In Short

• Swarna, Nila and Neelaveni from Maa Inti Bangaram and Blast are rooted in lived experience
• Their fights emerge from protection, restraint and survival rather than swagger
• Both films shape choreography around physicality, skill sets and circumstance

Women kicking a** in Indian cinema is no longer the novelty it once was. Women kicking a** convincingly still is.

For years, filmmakers have confused strength with invincibility, writing female action heroes who simply punch harder, shout louder and behave like men in different bodies. That's why two recent South Indian films - Maa Inti Bangaram and Blast - deserve more attention than they are getting. Not because Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Priety Mukundan and Abhirami beat up bad guys, but because the films understand that action begins with character.

What sets these characters apart is that they are characters first and action heroes later. Swarna (Samantha), Nila (Priety) and Neelaveni (Abhirami) aren't written as invincible larger-than-life figures or conventional heroes. Their strength emerges from who they are - their lives, their choices and, most importantly, the skills they possess. The action grows organically from their personalities rather than defining them.

As Maa Inti Bangaram director BV Nandini Reddy exclusively told India Today, "You need people to root for the hero. It's not just selling on stardom, it's also selling the character. They have to understand who she is, why she is the way she is, and relate to her better."

That's what makes these three stand out. They don't represent extraordinary people; they represent ordinary ones placed in extraordinary situations. Their skills set them apart, but they are never treated as badges of honour or the only defining aspect of their identities. Much of the credit for that lies with the writing.

Swarna was once Jhansi, the Naxal. Nila earned her Dan 3 black belt as a child - something that only makes one wonder how much more accomplished she would be as an adult. Neelaveni remains the only combatant to have defeated Arjun Sarja's Rajaram, the otherwise unbeaten martial arts master in Blast. Yet despite these remarkable credentials, none of them come across as larger-than-life superheroes. They appear human first and that is what makes them so relatable.

While Neelaveni is the most grounded of the three, Nila's achievement at such a young age is astonishing. Whether that was an oversight by director Subhash K Raj or a deliberate creative choice, Baby Shivakami pulls it off with ease, and Priety Mukundan carries that same energy effortlessly.

Swarna, meanwhile, is the farthest from ordinary but the easiest to relate to. Her struggles, at both extremes, are things you witness - if not experience - every day. That's what makes these characters endearing. Their abilities may be exceptional, but their humanity never stops feeling familiar.

Action built around character

The other thing both films get right, and this is where it gets a little technical, is how convincing their action choreography feels. Their protagonists are formidable, but what truly sells them is that every punch, kick and movement is designed around who these characters are, not the other way around. The action serves the character, rather than forcing the character to serve the action.

The action in both films gets the "almost flawless" tag for one reason: every now and then, they move away from grounded action and lean into mass moments. Sometimes those attempts land, and sometimes they don’t. That said, we can't deny that the action in both these films is suspended away from reality. But isn't that also part of the entertainment? With that acknowledged, let's get to the good part — action.

Maa Inti Bangaram: Samantha's biggest strength

Samantha, who comes with experience considering that she has consistently been fierce on screen since The Family Man Season 2 as Raji, knows how to do action. Raj Nidimoru, the writer, knows how to conceive and capture those moments, and BV Nandini Reddy knows how to build situations that naturally lead to them.

Reddy recalled that stunt director Lee Whittaker initially eased her into the choreography with simpler movements, unsure of how quickly she would adapt after a break. "But when he saw how quickly she was catching things, he started making it more intense and increasing the complexity of the moves. She was like a pro." she said.

Taking Samantha's physical stature into account, action directors Lee Whittaker and Aejaz Gulab have built set pieces where agility takes centre stage, movement becomes the biggest weapon, and everyday objects are weaponised to create a unique identity for the action.

What makes Maa Inti Bangaram's action stand out is that every move is born out of necessity, and every fight has purpose. Whether she is using household objects as weapons or relying on quick movement to overcome physically stronger opponents, the choreography constantly reminds you of who she is and what she is capable of. And when the film does try to force her into a larger-than-life mass moment, it doesn't quite work and only interrupts the flow.

Nandini Reddy revealed that this was a conscious creative decision from the very beginning for Maa Inti Bangaram. "Let's not have her very seamlessly handling these guys. She's getting hurt, she's taking it, it's tough for her, but she's overcoming it. It should never make her feel like some kind of superwoman."

That's perhaps the biggest takeaway from Maa Inti Bangaram. The action isn't there to make Samantha look invincible; it's there to make Swarna believable. And that distinction is what makes the action set pieces land.

Blast: A family that fights together

Unlike Maa Inti Bangaram, where Samantha carries the action, Blast builds its action around a family of expert Karate practitioners. While Arjun Sarja's Rajaram leads the family, the film never revolves around him alone. Priety Mukundan's Nila drives the story, with her father, mother and uncle all drawn into the conflict to protect the youngest member of the family.

That changes the choreography completely. Nila is more than capable against untrained fighters, but she isn't invincible. As the threat escalates, she has to depend on her family. Nila's agility and kicks complement her physicality, while Abhirami's Neelaveni gets just as many opportunities to prove why she's one of the family's finest fighters.

One of Blast's greatest strengths is that it never turns into an Arjun Sarja showcase. Despite Rajaram being an accomplished martial artist, he is treated as one piece of the puzzle rather than the solution to every problem. That same balance extends to the action itself, ensuring every character has a meaningful role to play instead of existing merely to support the hero's triumph.

When the antagonist Abraham storms into the house, it takes the entire family to bring down a cold-blooded, trained killer. The men protect the women in one stretch, the women return the favour in another, and in the end, the victories belong to the family - not any one individual.

The real victory of Maa Inti Bangaram and Blast isn't that they put women at the centre of the action. Cinema has done that before. It's that they understand what makes audiences believe in those women once the action begins.

Swarna, Nila and Neelaveni command attention long before they throw their first punch. The films establish who they are, what they are capable of and why they choose to fight. By the time the action arrives, the audience isn't watching the choreography; they are watching the character.

The future of female-led action may not lie in making women look tougher, but in making them feel more real. If Maa Inti Bangaram and Blast are any indication, getting it right has very little to do with bigger punches and everything to do with stronger character writing, established skills and choreography that works with the character, not around them.

- Ends