Raai Laxmi is back in Chennai, where she started her career in 2005 with Karka Kasadara , to promote Julie 2, an erotic thriller that marks her début in Bollywood. It’s also a landmark film — her 50th — in a career that has spanned the four South Indian languages.
The past two years have been eventful for the actress; she had to work on her physique for the movie. It did not help that a stress injury resulted in two leg surgeries. “I had to gain weight, lose it, and I was at home, recuperating, unable to move around much. Gaining weight is so easy, losing it is the difficult part,” smiles the actress, known for her fitness regimen. “All these years, I’ve looked healthy; never been a size zero. I am big-boned and I’ve accepted that,” she adds.
Julie 2 is a franchise movie, and not a sequel to the first part that released 13 years ago, with Neha Dhupia in the lead. It’s helmed by the same director, Deepak Shivdasani, and Raai Laxmi says that while it follows the same path as the original, the storyline is vastly different. “It’s been a long wait, and I’m glad we are set for release.”
How easy was it for her to slip into a role vastly different from what she’s done so far, especially since it falls in the erotic genre? “Initially, it was awkward to perform that way in front of a 100 people. And, while you realise it is a film, switching on and off took some time. I was more comfortable in the second schedule. The director insisted that I be called Julie on the sets. That helped me get into the character better. I convinced myself that it is a bold film and you have to do what it demands and be in the moment. That said, while the trailer highlights glamour, the film is much more than that. It’s finally the story that drives it forward.”
Raai Laxmi has mostly portrayed modern characters, but also has demure roles in her filmography. In Malayalam, she’s been given slightly more serious roles, working with actors such as Mammootty and Mohanlal. In fact, she’s signed on two more Malayalam films, one of them with Mammootty. “I do feel bad I’ve not got too many such roles in Tamil. If I’ve survived here for so long with just the kind of work I’ve done, imagine where I might have gone with some variety. Malayalam has always offered me roles that I’ve not done so far.”
Julie 2 has opened many doors already. “I am listening to scripts in Mumbai. Many creators in the South are surprised seeing me in Julie 2 , because they have never imagined me in that mould. But, I’m clear I don’t want to do another film in the same genre,” adds Laxmi, who has already started work on a Tamil film, and is awaiting the release of Yaar , a horror-thriller directed by KS Bawa.
