Indian actress Aishwarya Lekshmi opens up about new film ‘Kumari’ and taking on bold roles

Gulf News

Aishwarya Lekshmi talks to Gulf News about her quest to take on challenging roles for women and backing strong stories.  Read the full story here: https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/south-indian/watch-actress-aishwarya-lekshmi-and-kumari-star-is-bone-tired-but-soulfully-happy-1.91652233  See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km  Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV  #UAEnews #Indian # AishwaryaLekshmi

Transcript

00:00Maybe I might come across as very selfish when I'm saying this because as a doctor I could touch lives every single day.

00:05After doing Ammu, I understand that I can do that as an actor too.

00:10Definitely do films that will empower everyone, not just women, but everyone.

00:14If somebody is able to get anything positive out of something that I'm doing,

00:20be it a movie, be it a video, be it an interview, I would take it all.

00:24I want everybody to get something positive from whatever I'm doing.

00:30This is Manjusha Radhakrishnan from Gulf News. I'm the entertainment editor

00:34and today on a Saturday morning we are here at Star Cinemas to speak to

00:39South Indian actress Aishwarya Lakshmi. She's actually a doctor by profession

00:43but she's been on a roll. She's a brilliant actress and we have seen her in films like

00:48Archana 31, Not Out, Ammu which tackled the very important subject of domestic violence and today

00:55she's here to promote her movie called Kumari which is like a fantasy folklore,

01:01it's a horror fantasy genre and she's here just to promote the film. So I'm going to talk to her now

01:06about what she thought of this film, why did she take it, why did she co-produce it perhaps

01:10and why she's one of the most talented actors to look out for.

01:14This movie, there have been a lot of gossip around this movie saying that Kumari is a ghost

01:19which it is not. Kumari is not a horror film but Kumari has elements of horror, it has these

01:27shock moments that you get when you're in the theatre. I think since I've watched a couple of

01:33shows with the audience I'm extremely happy, I'm extremely proud that the movie is working

01:38but also very excited because we were trying something new which is new to Malayalam and also

01:43we are bringing into life elements from Vadakkan Haiti, Himalaya. So I think we have succeeded

01:50seeing the audience reaction, I was extremely happy after our first show like I was like yay.

01:56To be honest with you, I was very very comfortable doing Kumari. For me, what worked for me was the

02:02story per se and not the character. I knew the character didn't have much to do, she was,

02:08if you watch the film you'll know that there is this world where a lot of things are happening

02:13and Kumari travels from one world to this world and suddenly she's in the midst of a lot of

02:18hangama and then she sees like she's just a witness to a lot of things that are happening.

02:29I think it's a visual treat for the audience. You get to see, see as Malayalis while growing

02:36up, you would have listened to a lot of folklore, you know that Anjagannan, a lot of, yeah, yeah,

02:44like you give it names, they sound scary, Chathan, Gaari, all those things, Guligan and then you'd

02:52never have, you have your own image attached to that particular name but right now we have

02:57made those visuals as in you can actually see your Chathan, you can actually see your Gaari

03:02and we have taken help from a Hollywood makeup artist, special effects makeup artist, Kyle

03:08Pashuti, so he has come down, we designed it along with our makeup artist because this was

03:13very rooted in Kerala, so very rooted to Kerala culture and our id, Himalaya, so both our

03:20makeup artists worked in tandem to create these characters, these two special characters.

03:25I mean even Purni and Selvin has done so well, I know you were one of the many characters but still.

03:30It's done very well for me, I'm so grateful, I have received so much love from Tamil people

03:37and see right now they know me as Poongarli and not as Aishwarya Lakshmi and I'm thrilled to be

03:44known like that as in when I go to restaurants there in Tamil Nadu when I'm traveling, when I

03:49go to restaurants, people recognize me, like normal people recognize me, people who are not connected

03:55to cinema recognize me, there was a lady who walked up to me and said after 18 years I went to

04:00the theater to watch Purni and Selvin and she recognized me, like she didn't know of anybody,

04:05like as in she knew Rajinikanth Kamal Haasan, obviously she knew, yeah and all the famous

04:10actors she knew but to know a very you know new, fairly new, I'm very very new in Tamil,

04:18so Tamil, Malayalam obviously I've worked for the past five years, so maybe people know me but for

04:24her to know me was a big deal for me because she hasn't watched anything for the past 18 years,

04:29so I was like yeah dude you're doing well, yeah I'm doing well. After we release in Kerala or in

04:35India and then you know everybody here they know of the reviews right then and there

04:41and only films that are worth your time is released in the UAE, so I'm very happy that

04:47Fars Film decided to release our film on the same day because they had already seen the film

04:52and they thought this was worth your time and I'm very happy and I'm here today

04:56because I felt like my movie should come to you with you know, if I'm here and if I could

05:02tell something about my movie or maybe a little introduction into the world of Kumari, I thought

05:07it might help our audiences come to theater more and I really want all of you to watch because I

05:12feel if you're coming here and maybe a family of four is watching some 250 dirhams for sure you're

05:19going to spend, yes it is steep, I'm very aware and I think there's a reason why Kumari is

05:25premiering here on the same day that it's premiering in Kerala, it's because this film is worth your

05:31time. I believe art is timeless and even Kumari, Ammu, Archana 31, not long after I'm dead and gone

05:40people might watch it, so I better do something that's relevant then as well you know like

05:45stories that speak about emotions, human emotions which is going to be the same throughout like

05:50even if maybe the settings might change, maybe we'll have spaceships flying across Dubai then.

05:56Yes, you might watch it in space. Yes, yeah so maybe they might watch it there but even then

06:03the human emotions that I'm trying to convey through my films, the pain, the like all of those

06:09things, everything would be the same so I'm telling myself that I should be doing more of

06:14these films and Kumari I think is a visual treat, it is a visual treat, I've seen the

06:23movie, I'm proud that I've made this movie, I'm waiting for the audience here to watch it in UAE.

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