BENGALURU: Lakshmi Gopalaswamy had just woken up from an afternoon siesta on Friday when she heard she had been adjudged best actress for her role in Vidaaya.
P Seshadri, director of the film about euthanasia, called to give her the news.
Elsewhere the same day, Information Minister Roshan Baig announced the state film awards for 2014 at a press conference.
“People said I had done a good job in Vidaaya but I am too pessimistic to think of all this. I have received state awards from Kerala for supporting actor, and this is the first time I am receiving an award from Karnataka for best actress,” she told Express.
Lakshmi plays a woman who seeks, against her own instincts, court permission for the mercy killing of her husband. She is painted by the media as a woman who wants her husband dead.
The story takes many turns, simultaneously tracing the legal course the euthanasia debate is taking in India.
An award comes as reassurance that an artiste is going in the right direction, she said. “Your craft is working, and the films you have chosen are good. When I got an opportunity to work with a director like Seshadri, I took it up,” she remarked.
For Lakshmi, cinema is a powerful medium and it is important to take up roles that can bring about change in society. “To get a film like Vidaaya and then to get recognition for it is a double whammy,” she said.
Sanchari Vijay, already recipient of a national award for his sensitive portrayal of a transgender person in Naanu Avanalla Avalu, is happy he has now got a state award.
‘I must thank the jury for this. At the same time, it makes me scared. There is a lot of work to do and I have to learn the art of managing time,” he told Express. He said the awards demonstrated that new talent is recognised and encouraged.