Two honours in a year is no small feat, but Surabhi Lakshmy plays it down with a laugh. “It feels good...,” is all that she says. Early this year, she won the State Amateur Theatre award of Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi for the best actress, for her role in the play Bombay Tailors . That was followed by a special jury mention at the Kerala State Film Awards for her role in Minnaminungu .
Now she can’t wait for Minnaminungu , directed by Anil Thomas, to reach theatres. “I want people to see the work. Other than the jury of the film awards, only a few people have watched it. But the tragedy is we are not sure when it can be released. It was made on an extremely small budget and now the makers are scrambling for funds to release it in theatres,” she says.
In the movie Surabhi plays a 45-year-old widow who takes care of her father, Gopalan, and her teenage daughter, Charu, by doing odd jobs. When Charu tells her that she needs ₹ six lakh to go to Canada for higher studies, she sells her house and borrows to help her realise the dream. But she is devastated on knowing the real reason behind Charu move to Canada.
“It was the first full-length role of my career. Before this, I was never been given a full script to read. The character doesn’t have a name in the film. Normally what happens is I am given a one-liner and when I reach the set, there will be hardly one or two scenes. At times I don’t even know the story,” she says.
The role was a “refreshing change” from her small screen avatar as Pathu in the sitcom M80 Moosa . Surabhi is best identified with this Muslim character, an affable, middle-aged homemaker who speaks a Kozhikode dialect. “It was a conscious decision to not use Pathu’s slang. So we went for the dialect in rural Thiruvananthapuram, which was the biggest challenge before me. However theatre-film actor Krishnan Balakrishnan helped me to get the accent right. As for the character, I modelled it after Meena, the matron of my hostel in Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit (SSUS), Kalady,” she says.
On her background
Growing up in culturally-rich Narikkuni in Kozhikode, Surabhi used to take part in plays staged by small troupes in her home town. She got introduced to theatre as a serious subject while pursuing a course in Bharatanatyam at Sree Sankaracharya University. Winning Best Actor (2008), a reality show for actors on Amrita TV, and Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi award for best actress in 2010 increased her confidence.
A powerhouse of talent, both on screen and on the stage stage, Surabhi, however, hasn’t had her share of luck in cinema. Even though she has been part of many good movies, most of them have been blink-and-you-miss kind of roles. “It was Pathu that changed the trajectory of my career. Till then many didn’t know that an actress named Surabhi existed. Recently I heard that I am called Malabar Manju by some fans of my character. That is too much! The comedy Laughing Villa on Surya TV, also gave me a good reach,” she says.
She is candid enough to admit that she has stopped dreaming of getting path-breaking roles in cinema. “Even if I win an Oscar award, I will get only those roles that are destined for me. Right now I am happy that my role in Minnaminungu is in the running for National Film Awards. Who knows, I might get offers from other languages after that...,” she says with a hearty laugh.
