Aarthi Agarwal's death at age 31 is a tragic event for a heroine who had seen epic success and stardom in an industry which puts any premium for glamor in a heroine. I remember when her first film "Nuvu Naaku Nachaav" was released co-starred with Venkatesh, the press was gaga about the new glamor doll. Ironically, one of the reviewers mentioned, "Aarthi is the new Divyabharathi - the girl who died a mysterious death in the 90s." Those words sounded apocalyptic to me whenever Aarthi Agarwal's career graph peaked and dipped. For one of the longest periods since her first film became a cult romcom classic, Aarthi's career knew no bounds - she demanded star remuneration and was much sought-after glamor doll landing offers to play the leading lady paired with such stars like Venkatesh, Nagarjuna, Balakrishna, Udaykiran, Tarun, NTR Jr., Prabhas, Ravi Teja and Mahesh Babu. Her finest hour came when Megastar Chiranjeevi sought her as the lead heroine in "Indra". Tollywood fans rooted for this North-Indian girl with loose and lush black hair, pouting lips, outstanding screen presence and an over-cute plumpness. Fans did notice her BMI was on the heavier side but that didn't discourage them from watching her films umpteen times. Until the onset of girls like Trisha and Shriya at the cusp of the new millennium, Aarthi Agarwal ruled the tinsel town as the most famous heroine that the Post-liberalisation Telugu audience knew with co-stars like the who's who of Tollywood.
What is trend-setting about her is that she knew her limitations in acting but came to primarily ooze out glamor in a language hardly spoken at home, so her voice was dubbed by Savita Reddy, a convent-school-educated dubbing artiste who was to later dub her inimitable voice to several new girls on the block like Genelia, Asin, Trisha, Shriya and so on. Aarthi's success was well-handled by her father until some producers felt unease over her clash of dates and slippages in her screen magic - as slimmer and trendier females showed up on the horizon. In an industry that had narrow shelf-space for heroines, she couldn't step on the gas for selecting different scripts. One of the most famous rumors was she was dating co-star Tarun and was chasing him to marry her, something that never got established. As she slipped in ratings, she was acting with co-stars in the second rung of Tollywood, she was being asked for item songs - an area that bombed. Though some peppy numbers here and there kept her afloat, the era of rotund starlets doing item numbers was short-lived abridging her chances of success. She was soon paired with heroes as the second-lead heroine - a phase that most glamor girls went through at some time in their careers. Then came a spectacular launch of her younger sister Aditi Agarwal opposite Allu Arjun in the latter's mega debut "Gangotri". The timing of the film came when Aarthi's career was sliding and Aditi's was about to soar. But Alas! both tanked. Aarthi 's career had another sad twist - when she had to undergo a mysterious surgery that led to re-stitching her hair. Many thought she would not re-surface in Tollywood. Then came her last glorious shot - as a heroine to launch star comedian Sunil in "Andala Ramudu". The film was a raging hit that gave a new lease of life to Aarthi Agarwal. But the success was not repeated because there was no improvisation and age and competition was catching up.
With a realisation that Tollywood moved on to more options, Aarthi Agarwal settled down in life marrying a businessman in 2007 that didn't have a happy ending though. From the beginning, the public image of an actress who sees cult adulation could be dramatically different than what goes on in the mind. Very few heroines in modern era have successfully drawn the line with family members interfering in the career choices and personal choices whenever stress levels were unmanageable. The most successful examples in recent times are those of Jyothika Suriyaa, Kajal Devgn and Shalini Ajith. All of them quit careers when they either got married or got tired of acting and moved on in life with more fulfilling jobs of raising children or restoring domestic happiness. The trouble comes when even parents of heroines stop seeing their daughters as human beings but as golden-egg laying ducks. "Show me a hero and I will show you a tragedy" reads a famous line in Hollywood. It is so true of heroines driven by ambitious parents who neither dote on them nor nourish them but instead feed off them. What are the dining table conversations that parents have with children that makes them take such unnatural short-cuts to look good? If Aarthi Agarwal hadn't been forced to go in for liposuction, she would have still been alive, lived her own life to try something different in life. Those options are gone now! And another heroine's life leaves bare the cruel lessons from over-expectations. R.I.P Aarthi Agarwal. Your life took so many turns before life took you.
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