Mollywood heroines making it big in other industries is no surprise and this might be one reason for many of them to head straight to K-Town. The latest in the league is Sunu Lakshmi, the pretty actress who has been part films like ‘Eesal’ and ‘Sengathu Bhoomiyile’. “It’s not that I don’t want to do Malayalam films, but I got my first offer from Tamil. I am definitely looking forward to do Malayalam films and waiting for good scripts to come my way,” she says.
Sunu Lakshmi, a trained dancer, made her debut as a child artist through popular small screen show ‘Kadamattathu Kathanar’. Later she appeared in the tele-film ‘Shakunam’ with late actor Murali and Urmila Unni which was aired on Doordarshan.
“I was a class 9 student then and ‘Shakunam’ helped me bag my first Tamil film,” she says. ‘Sirithen Rasithen’ by Chandrasekhar was her first film in Kollywood and immediately after that she signed another Tamil film which is yet to be completed.
Then came M Rathnakumar’s ‘Sengathu Bhoomiyile’, which the actress says is close to her heart for more reasons than one. “Rathnakumar has been the screenwriter of veteran director Bharathiraja and the music was scored by Ilayaraja,” she says. In the film, which was set in rural Tamil Nadu, Sunu Lakshmi played Jayakodi, a village belle. “After watching the the preview Ilayaraja sir was so impressed with my acting that he gifted me a song. He composed a new song featuring me at the preview theatre saying ‘this one is my gift for Jayakodi’ and that was one unforgettable experience for me,” he says.
Sunu Lakshmi is now eagerly awaiting the release of her latest ‘Eppothum Vendral’ in which she stars opposite Sanjay. “I am playing a bold Christian girl in the film. It’s a bit challenging, but I must say the director has been enormously supportive. Many girls were auditioned for the role and I was the lucky one to grab it,” she says.
The actress, who has been training under Thara Kalyan for more than a decade, says her expertise in dance has helped her a lot. “I am basically a dancer who is also into stage shows. I can do all varieties of dance be it classic or contemporary. In films you might need kathak steps for a sequence and salsa for other. If you are comfortable with the dance forms it saves a lot of time. You don’t have to go for retake after retake,” she says.