If the Lalitha, Padmini and Ragini sisters from Kerala ruled in the fifties and sixties and even later, Rati Agnihotri, Swapna, and others ruled much later in the Eighties. Saroja Devi the dusky beauty from Karnataka won the hearts of millions opposite the immortals of Tamil cinema, Chevalier Sivaji Ganesan, and Dr MG Ramachandran.
Jayalalitha and Sri Devi, though naturalized Tamilians, were originally from Karnataka and Kerala. The Ambica sisters — Ambica and Radha, were also beauties from Kerala who dominated the Tamil cinema.
The heroes were always from within Tamil Nadu but the heroines always from outside with a few exceptions. The trend hasn’t changed much in the 90s or the early part of the 21st century. Sivaji Ganesan, MG Ramachandran, Jai Shankar, Ravichandran,Vijay Kumar, Kamalahasan, Surya, Vijay, Madhavan, Vishal , Bharath, Dhanush are all true blooded Tamils whose mother tongue is Tamil.
The super star Rajnikanth and Action King Arjun were the only exceptions – both came from Karnataka and got pride of place among the Tamil speaking population. Rajni is Shivaji Rao Gaikwad from Belgaum, who could speak Marathi and Kannada fluently. Vikram came to Tamil films from Andhra Pradesh and is one of the most talented artistes.
Tamil became Rajni’s 2nd language to make him Indian cinemas highest paid star at over Rs 50 crores. Non of the Bollywood stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh, Salman Khan or Amir Khan could match that figure and his box office success. Padaiyappa, Chandramukhi, Sivaji and Enthiran are all the biggest super hits of Tamil cinema. It is learnt that Rajni has been signed for Rana for a triple role for a whopping Rs 60 crore. And all this goes to show Tamil filmdom’s constant search for talent and the Tamil film audience greatest cosmopolitan outlook to absorbing the best talents and looks from different parts of India.
Top heroines of Tamil cinema 
Some of the top actresses who rule the Tamil film world are: Nayantara from Kerala known for her svelte figure and smashing looks. She has become a multilingual star commanding a hefty price of nearly Rs 40 to Rs 50 lakhs per film acting opposite almost all the top heroes of Tamil cinema whether it be Rajnikanth (Sivaji), Ajit (Billa), Arya ( Boss enna Bhaskaran), Surya ( Adhavan), etc. She acts in Telegu and Malayalam films as well.
Trisha is the other Kerala girl who commands as much price as Nayantara or even higher at Rs 50 to Rs 
60 lakhs per film and her latest movie with Kamalahasan and Madhavan (maddy) ‘Manmada Ambhu’ is a smash hit. She can also play deglamourised roles and showed her acting abilities in Gautam Menon’s Vinnathandi Varuvaya. She is also a sought after model for ad films.
Another beauty from Kerala that Tamil Nadu has imported is Asin. She is another stunner with her bubbly performances who is in top league after the box office success of Gahjini in both Tamil and Hindi with Surya and Amir khan. She is also in the top league charring over Rs 40 to Rs 60 lakhs.
Sneha is another beauty of Tamil cinema. She is another homely girl with the girl next door charm who has won the hearts of millions. She comes from Andhra Pradesh and is another bi lingual star who has given sterling performances in Pallikoodum and Vasul Raja opposite Ulaga Nayagan Kamala Hasan. She has also acted in a number of movies opposite the current heart throb of Tamil Nadu, Surya, one of the highest paid actors in Tamil Nadu with Rs 6 crores to his credit – only Rajnikanth and Kamala Hasan command a price of Rs 30 crores to Rs 45 crores per film.
Shreya a Rajasthan girl shot to fame with Sivaji acting opposite Rajnikanth in the blockbuster movie. 
She was reputedly paid Rs. 20 lakhs plus a retainer of Rs. 5 lakhs of not to accept shooting dates in any other film while shooting for sivaji was complete. She hails from a middle class background and her father works in BHEL.
Tamannah is the hottest cutie from Mumbai, a Sindhi girl who has made it big in Tamil filmdom with her looks and figure as in Ayan opposite Surya and imitating Kareena’s role in Tamil remake of Jab We meet.
Sameera Reddy is another sexy babe from Andhra Pradesh who is consolidating herself with a string of good movies and good performances made by Gautam Menon , Varnam Ayiram, and some more of his latest movies. She played the glamorous role in Musafir and Race with Anil Kapoor, a far cry from the movies she acts in Telugu or Tamil.
Another lass who has capitalized on her hour glass figure and looks is the dusky Reema Sen from Bengal who shot to fame with Minnale with Madhavan which was later remade as RHTDM with Diya Mirza.
But before these youngsters came in , the comparatively older youngsters such as Naghma and Jyotika, ruled the world of Tamil cinema with sterling performances and killer looks. Both are from Mumbai and one of them has Gujarati origin. Naghma is the daughter of a Hindu father and Muslim mother – of the famed Moraji mills scion. Naghmas mother Sadhana was also an actress. Sadhana divorced the Morarji scion and married again and sired Jyotika who rocked the Tamil film world until she married co star Surya to go into retirement, giving a chance to other imports.
Namita and Mumtaz, the two bombshells who exude sexism on the screen as Tamil film journals 
describe them, are again imports from Punjab and Kerala. Another typical Punjabi girl who was the uncrowned queen of Tamil cinema was Simran who has acted opposite all the big heroes of Tamil cinema including Kamala Hasan. Simran endeared herself to the Tamil audiences with her fluent Tamil and typical south Indian looks, and how she managed this transformation from a Punjabi kudi is history.
There are others like Sandhya who is also very talented but not yet in the high bracket of earnings though she is more talented of the brat pack who can emote beautifully and essay any difficult role. Her very first film ‘Kadhal’ was a big hit. But she was unable to take it forward probably because she was choosy about her roles. Even at this early stage she has established herself as a talented actress who can pull off any role. She reportedly charges only Rs. 18 to Rs. 20 lakhs.
Meera Jasmine is the only actress in the list who has won a national award. Like Sneha she is more noticed for her talents than her glamorous looks or for wearing skimpy clothes, which she doesn’t. She was most noticed in Madhavan”s Tamil version of Run. She has acted opposite the DMDK leader Captain Vijaykanth in Mudhal Mariyadai. She was also part of Mani Ratnam’s Ayutha Ezhuthu. Her last big hit was Sandakozhi with Vishal. and directed by Lingusamy. She is also big leaguer with a price tag of around Rs. 30 lakhs per movie.
It’s easier to get opportunities in the south as there are so many new film makers unlike Mumbai where there is a strangle hold by film families. Tamil Nadu has indeed shown great magnanimity in absorbing film heroines from other states unlike Mumbai which rotates around Aishwarya Rai, Kareena Kapoor, Bipasha Basu and Priyanka Chopra or Kangana Raut. those talented beauties who could not get chance in Bollwood must knock at the door of Kollywood. More and more beauties are from northern, western, eastern India are getting chance in Tamil cinema.