Raai Laxmi is one actress who delivered a lot of hits in Malayalam. However, she has been missing from Malayalam and South for a while. The gap appeared because she had to earmark ample time for her Bollywood debut movie Julie 2. So, after a 3-year hiatus, she is back in Malayalam with the Mammootty starrer Oru Kuttanadan Blog, directed by Sethu.
“Malayalam has always welcomed me with open arms. My last movie, Rajadhi Raja, was released in 2014. I believe it doesn't matter to the audience how many years I work here or how many movies I do a year. They are glad when I’m back and get extremely pleased if I do more movies here. The gap in Malayalam movies happened since I'm a multilingual artiste. My schedules are packed as I'm involved in movies in all south Indian languages. I get a lot of offers from here, but miss out on many. Personally, I love working in Malayalam,” she says on her interval from Malayalam movies.
Raai Laxmi will be playing the lead role of Jasmine in Oru Kuttanadan Blog. She describes her character as a sweet and matured one. This is the fifth time she is playing the leading lady in a Mammootty movie. “Jasmine is a city girl. She has her roots in Kuttanad, but was raised in a city. She comes back to Kuttanad for a reason and has a strong connection with Mammooty sir’s character. A homely girl from city, that’s Jasmine. The movie offer came between my Tamil and Telugu projects. The schedule was okay and I could play a good character,” she talks about her character.
Julie 2 demanded a lot of time, she says. She had many offers from the south, but had to give up owing to the training and shoot of the Bollywood movie.
“I was supposed to do a movie with Mammooty sir. The director wanted me to do the role, but it clashed with the shoot of Julie 2. I had already lost 11 kg for the movie, but the character in Malayalam required some ‘heaviness’. Malayalam movie industry is so close to my heart and I wanted to portray that character. Since I had already committed and started working for Julie, I had to drop it,” she says.
Julie 2’s trailer and songs created quite a sensation and her Bollywood debut was one of the most anticipated ones of 2017. However, the movie didn't work out well in box-office. But Laxmi is so happy and confident about after her Bollywood entry. “I would say the movie was wrongly promoted and advertised. The marketing team wanted the movie to attain a lot of attention, but it ended the wrong way. The trailers gave a misconception that the film is an erotic thriller, which kept families away from the theatres. The movie dealt with a good subject, had a message and my character was great in that. I wanted women to watch the movie, but the misconception shattered the movie's success. But, I have no regrets! The movie has opened me the door to Bollywood. I have a space now, all I need is to explore and use it well. Julie 2 will always be close to my heart,” she talks about her Bollywood debut.
She isn't an actress who fears of getting typecast. However, she will be back in Bollywood only after completing a few movies In South. A Bollywood movie takes a year or so to complete, so committing a Bollywood film will further widen her interval in South Indian movies. “I've been getting many offers In Bollywood after Julie 2. But, I don’t want to do movies of the same genre again. I'll wait for the right script and continue my journey there.” She makes it clear that she doesn't want to reprise the type of roles she have already did but loves to take up characters which are challenging, with different looks and shades. “I’ve been listening to a lot of scripts with contrasting characters. The audience will be able to see me in variety characters in near future.”
Laxmi was fortunate to begin her career with Mohanlal and Mammootty. From her debut Malayalam movie Rock N’ Roll in 2007 to the present, she has worked in five films each with the big M’s. “I'm blessed, honoured and privileged. It has always been a pleasure to work with these two legends. Their immense support made my acting easier and relaxed, in spite of the unfamiliarity in language. I would definitely say that their support has been instrumental in shaping my career in Malayalam,” she says.
She’s currently shooting for the Tamil Movie Neeya 2. She has also committed two projects in Telugu and one in Kannada. Since being a multilingual artiste, the question is obvious that which movie industry is her favourite? “India is blessed with so many regional languages. However, I believe there isn't any need to differentiate the movie industries. It should be famous as the Indian movie industry. And Raai Laxmi should be famous as an Indian movie actress; that should be my identity always,” she wraps up.
