FC Disruptors: Darshana Rajendran

We started the year by singing her name in what became a love anthem of sorts. In Hridayam, she played the role of the unforgettable ex, owning some of the film's best scenes. This includes the complex conflict she goes through as she stares enviously at her ex-lover’s fiancée or the even more inexplicable emotion as she kisses his son, with a feeling that’s part affection, part regret. But it was her role in Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey that changed every stereotype associated with her image. Not only did she escape the image of a tragic heroine, but she also kicks ass (both literally and figuratively). The action-comedy remains the biggest hit led by a female protagonist and it brought back whistles and claps to the screen as the wife ‘Jaya’ beats her annoying husband to pulp. In what could be a discovery for the industry, a new window has opened with the success of this film, which may even lead to a sub-genre later on. In commentator Shaiju Damodaran’s hyperbolic words, Darshana was this year’s Naga Panchami, Naga Rani and Naga Chaitanya.