Seeking to impress

Keerthy Suresh, one of the most sought after heroines in Tamil and Telugu cinema today, grew up in a filmy environment being the daughter of veteran Malayalam film producer Suresh Kumar and his actor wife Menaka. Menaka was a multilingual star who had the pick of roles in her heyday, and Keerthy, who takes after her mother, is keen to make her mark, not as just another glamour star but as one who can be trusted with weighty roles.

Early beginnings
Keerthy debuted as a child actor in her father’s productions like Achaneyanenikkishtam and Kuberan and thereafter went on to graduate with a degree in fashion designing. It was Priyadarshan, the veteran Malayalam director (who had debuted with a film produced by Keerthy’s father), who insisted that Keerthy should make her comeback to the silver screen in his film Geethanjali. Keerthy had no formal training in acting and thus found enacting the double roles in the movie to be a bit too much for her. Consequently, her efforts could not match up to the demands of the characters.

But by then, Keerthy had realised that cinema was her calling, and with both her parents giving her the green signal, signed up for her next Malayalam film Ring Master with Dileep, directed by Rafi of the Rafi-Mc Cartin duo. This time, she was cast in the role of a blind girl. Having done her homework well by interacting with visually impaired people, she was able to come up to the director’s expectations. The film turned out to be a commercial hit and enabled her to gain a foothold in the Malayalam film industry.
Like many other female actors before her, Keerthy also headed for the greener pastures of Tamil cinema, where her mother Menaka had once been a household name. Keerthy made her debut with A L Vijay’s Idhu Enna Maayam, where she was paired with  Vikram Prabhu. The movie saw little success at the box office, but her role of an urban, calm and quiet girl enabled her to catch the eye of Tamil film-makers. The year 2016 turned out to be a fruitful one for her with a couple of films like Rajini Murugan and Remo scorching the box office.

For the city-born-and-bred Keerthy, the role in Rajini Murugan was that of a sari-clad Madurai girl, and it clicked in a big way with audiences rooting for her. Both the directors, Ponram and Bhagyaraj Kannan, had good words for her and their encouragement came in handy for Keerthy who was more or less a newcomer to the industry. But soon, she also found an opportunity to match strides with Dhanush in Thodari.

The fact that Keerthy had arrived in a big way was evident when she was paired with one of the hottest stars in the Tamil film industry, ‘Ilaiyathalapathy’ Vijay in the film Bhairavaa. This film, too, turned out to be a runaway hit. Her next big release was Paambhu Sattai, where she was cast in a deglamourised avatar. The film that she can look forward to is the Vignesh Sivan venture Thaana Serndha Kootam, where she will be paired with Suriya.

Making a mark
Like the heroines before her, Keerthy too was enticed by Telugu cinema. Though she is yet to work with the top heroes, she has done films like Nenu Sailaja with Ram,  Nenu Local with Naani. She is also keenly waiting for the release of the long-delayed Aina Ishtam Nuvvu. Talks are also on for a film with Pawan Kalyan, and once this materialises, Keerthy would have broken into the big league.

Keerthy Suresh is not keen on taking up every role that comes her way and is more interested in characters that can impress the audiences. She is even prepared to take on supporting roles, provided they are well written. And while she is all for exuding glamour on screen, she has drawn boundaries when it comes to intimate scenes and skin show on the silver screen.
Keerthy is confident that her million dollar smile and acting talent can help her play a long innings in cinema.