Lakshmi Gopalaswamy, the beautiful Bangalore girl, has breezed into Bollywood with her first Hindi flick Dhuaan directed by Mrunalini Patil. The film’s dramatis personae comprise yesteryear stars— Padmini Kolhapuri, Rati Agnihotri, Raj Babbar and others— with Lakshmi playing the female lead. This radiant star of Malayalam film firmament already has 18 Malayalam, two Tamil and two Kannada flicks in her film kitty. Recently, two of her Malayalam films were screened at International Film Festival of India, held in Goa.

Besides, Lakshmi has bagged this year’s prestigious Kerala Film Critics award for the best woman actor for her film Thaniye. Her Tamil film Bheema that hit the theatres last month and her popular telly soap Lakshmi (currently aired on Sun TV at 10pm, in which she is pitted against veteran Tamil actor Meena), have catapulted her to fame in the land of Kollywood. Lakshmi is also seen among the panel of judges in the on-going dance contest, Thaka-dhimmi telecast on Asianet.

Excerpts from a tête-à-tête with Lakshmi:

Tell us about your role in Dhuaan.

I’m playing a journalist, and the entire film is pivoted around my character. The film shoot has already begun, and it’s quite exhilarating as I’m exploring some new terrains in acting.

On your co-stars in the film…

I find both Rati (Agnihotri) and Padmini (Kolhapuri) to be pretty amicable. It’s an edifying experience working with such renowned actors.

So, do you define this as your dream role?

Of course! I’ve always dreamed of donning such meaningful roles that creates ineffaceable impact on people’s minds.

Being a quintessential Kannadiga, how come this proclivity towards Malayalam films?

As said earlier, I love being cast in significant roles and that Malayalam films have been proffering them.
On your popular telly serial Lakshmi.

Telly serials entail a whit of hamming, which in a way has fine-tuned my acting skills. About ‘Netra’, the character that I play in Lakshmi, she is conniving, vindictive… diametrically opposite to what I am in real life!

On your experience working with Tamil screen icons in Bheema.

Vikram is inordinately simple with high acting caliber. Trisha is that typical cool gal, bindaas kind. Prakash Rai, with who I was paired, is a fabulous artist. He’s a terrific cook too, who can effortlessly rustle up scrumptious delicacies!

On the sets of Thaka-dhimmi…

Both Vineeth and Gopika, my co-judges, are top-notch dancers/actors, and we share excellent chemistry with each other. With Vineeth, I have shared stage space in more than 60 dance shows.

One of your ineradicable moments in life…

When I first beheld the mesmerising beauty of Konark temple!