Her negative role in the Telugu fantasy, Anaganaga O Dheerudu that had Siddharth and Shruti Haasan in the lead, drew appreciation, and has fetched her four awards so far. When Ram Gopal Varma roped her in for his Hindi film, Department , the entire industry took notice of her. And now that she’s all set to make a mark in Mani Ratnam’s Kadal , her career as an actor is on an upward swing. She’s Lakshmi Manchu, daughter of well-known Telugu actor Mohan Babu and sister of heroes Vishnu and Manoj Manchu. Lakshmi has succeeded in projecting herself as a woman with myriad facets — talk and stage show host, model, actor and producer with a mind of her own. She may sound casual and chirpy, but behind the façade is an intelligent woman. “You think so? But sometimes when I’m misquoted, it’s like ‘Hey! Wait a minute! I didn’t quite say that, did I?’ Anyway it’s too late,” she laughs. Wit and spontaneity mark the manner in which she fields posers.
The American twang in her accent is understandable. After a decade in the U.S. as a student of acting, as an actor in Hollywood, and as a producer of short films, Lakshmi has returned to her roots. Intriguing, since Hollywood is the dream destination for actors in any part of the world, yet she has chosen to come back. “Yeah, frankly, though I came down for my brother Vishnu’s wedding and got stuck because of a show I had committed to, I’m enjoying this phase. I love challenges. I get very excited when I’m thrown into new situations. They give me a high.”
Acting assignments followed. It’s not as though Lakshmi made her debut with Anaganaga … As a four-year old, when the makers of her dad’s film were looking out for a child who wasn’t afraid to act with a snake, Lakshmi casually walked into the set and lifted the creature, and thus bagged her first role. A few films as a child actor followed after which her father would hear nothing of it. But the fire in her had been stoked up. “I’ve heard actors say they came into the industry by accident, but there I was trying to find an ‘accident’ that would bring me back to acting,” she says.
Lakshmi Manchu is into production too — Marandhaen Maniththaen , in which she plays the protagonist, and Varuvaan Thalaivan , a bilingual in Tamil and Telugu, which has her brother Manoj Manchu making a decisive entry in Tamil.
Inspired by dad Mohan Babu
From her responses I glean that dad Mohan Babu is a great source of inspiration. “He is,” she proudly says. His bonding with Rajnikanth is too well known to warrant mention. So what did the Superstar have to say about her career choices? “He’s very happy for me. Dad was in Chennai a couple of days ago and Rajni uncle was here at the hotel to meet us. You must watch them together to believe the camaraderie between the two! And it was so heartening to see him looking healthy and happy. He loved the titles of the two films we’re producing. ‘Why didn’t I think of them,’ he laughed,’” says Lakshmi.
Varuvaan Thalaivan should release soon and as its producer, anxiety is part of the package. “You bet! With a budget of 26 crore this is our costliest film. After MM and VT , I plan to take a short break from production and concentrate on acting alone,” she says. Will she be seen in VT ? “Yeah, in a small role.”
Probably she ought to have got into acting even earlier? “So that I could run around trees? Not that I mind, because I love commercial cinema. But the roles I get now are specifically for me and I like it this way,” she contends.
How did Kadal happen? “I was called down for an audition, after which I didn’t hear from Mani Ratnam for a couple of months. I badly wanted to be in it and had almost given up, when suddenly I got a call to discuss my dates. “Am I in the film,’ I asked. ‘You didn’t know?’ was the counter,” smiles Lakshmi.
Has she signed any more Tamil projects? “Probably after this interview I will,” she chuckles.
