The battle has begun between two former south Indian actresses Asin and Genelia now ruling the roost in Bollywood for India’s biggest orange soft drink market- South India. Asin has been endorsing Mirinda for the last three years, while Genelia has become Fanta brand ambassador from this year. Tamilnadu alone accounts for 25 percent of the total orange soft drink market in the country. The rivalry between PepsiCo and Coca Cola India for the South Orange market has been bitter, and much juice has flowed in the campaign. Last three years the market leader in the orange category was clearly PepsiCo India’s Mirinda, thanks to Asin, while Simran and later Trisha gave stiff competition with Coca Cola India’s Fanta. This summer, Fanta has decided to take Mirinda head on by signing up Genelia, the new youth icon in Bollywood who has a huge fan base in south. Says a leading Chennai based brand consultant: “ Asin and Genelia are big in Bollywood today after Ghajini and Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na respectively. They have already become national brand ambassadors for their respective brands. But the winner in the orange war will be decided by who wins in Tamilnadu, the biggest market for orange soft drink in the country.” On Friday (April 17) Genelia, flew to Chennai for a big summer 2009 Fanta launch in Tamilnadu. Genelia was in her elements and said, “It feels great to be associated with Brand Fanta. It has been my favorite sparkling drink for a long time. I am quite thrilled about the launch of Fanta Apple. It’s a great product and I am confident that its refreshing taste would find a special appeal amongst all my fans.” Two weeks back Asin was in Coimbatore for summer season launch party of Mirinda. Asin’s two new television commercials with the theme ‘Mirinda Kannu, Konjam Galatta Pannu’ have become super hits with the audiences. The buzz in the soft drink market in Tamilnadu is that this summer it is going to be a tough battle between the two orange drinks, and larger than life stars play an important role in the sales.