When we limit ourselves, we are destroying the artiste in us: Surabhi Lakkshmi

Having given life to Manikyam from Ajayante Randam Moshanam (ARM), a character that has since then gained a fan following of its own, Surabhi Lakkshmi is on a career high. Dropping another bomb soon after, Surabhi was seen holding a gun for the first time, in a bold avatar, for Rifle Club, her next with Ashiq Abu. In a chat with us, the National Award-winning actress, who is quite busy with her academics as well, says, “she is grateful for the support from the audience”.

‘I didn’t expect Manikyam to be so well received’
To convince others in any role, it should first be convincing for me. When I was given the role of Manikyam, I started the preparation from the name itself. It’s my aunt’s name and I connected it to the exquisite and elusive
Nagamanikyam. Then, I learnt Maniyan’s character. Maniyan is an intense character who bravely challenges the public by hanging a bell on him when he robs. So, his partner must be equally gritty and unique. If she says no, it’s a no for him, be it anything. That’s the energy that I channeled into that role. While we were confident that the film would be appreciated by the audience, I didn’t expect Manikyam to be so well received. Hundreds of them drew pictures of the character and tagged me on social media, so I was surprised and thought, ‘We have so many artists in Kerala!’ Meanwhile, there were others who made reels, dressing up as Manikyam.

‘I practised how to hold a gun for my role in Rifle Club’
In Rifle Club, I play a character named Susan. The film is based on the incidents that happen in a rifle club, so we use guns a lot. It was my first time holding a gun. I went and practised how to hold a gun. I can say that I have done things I have never tried before in Rifle Club. I was only informed about some of the stuff I needed to do immediately before the scene, so most of it is very spontaneous on my part, too.
‘Just because I’ve won a National Award, I can’t expect only heroine roles’
When we win a National Award, the position we are at, at that point in time, is also important. If I had been a heroine at that time, I might have secured better film roles. I was acting in a television serial back then and did not have many films to my credit. So, it must have been hard to develop a film with me as the lead heroine. Jithin Laal (director of ARM) promised me a role even before I won the award. Anoop Menon made Padma with me portraying the titular role and later in Kallan D’Souza also, I was the heroine. I see the award as a minimum guarantee that I can handle a role that I am given. Just because I won the award, I did not think that I’d become a lead heroine immediately after that. We should be constant about our dedication and passion for the work we do. I kept polishing the actor in me through both big and small roles.

‘Theatre helped me to be a flexible actress’
I want to be an actress flexible enough to do comedy roles, serious roles and anything else challenging that comes my way. I got that confidence from theatre. I won’t limit myself as an individual and will accept all the stages that I get. When we put a limit on ourselves thinking, ‘You are at this stage in your career, so you can’t do this and that’, we are destroying the artiste in us.
‘Trying to do age-appropriate roles now, but I am not very selective’
These days, I look at whether there is a scope for performance in a film. When people call me to act as the mother of the hero, I tell them ‘No’, because I can do such roles later, too. I feel like I can only do roles that reflect my actual age at this point in time. So, if I give up this window of the 30s, I will never get that chance again as we progress. But if offered dual roles of different ages, I do take it up as it inspires me as an actor. But that doesn’t mean I am very selective. Sometimes, a good team or money could also be a factor for an artiste when they select films, and it’s the same for me. Since we can only select from roles we are offered, I do things that generally feel fine for me.