The film that she signed with Maniratnam is titled Pookadai. It has yesteryear hero Karthik’s (Murali to his Tollywood fans) son Goutam in the lead. “It’s a rural subject and I play a pucca Tamil girl. The role will be quite challenging because I have to learn the correct diction first. I will start shooting from January and I’m eagerly looking forward to it,” Lakshmi said of her role. She also added that she was proud to be making her Kollywood debut with Maniratnam. The actress said that she had read the script two months ago, and liked it from the first instant. When journos quizzed her about appearing as de-glamorized Tamil ponnu, Lakshmi laughed off stating that working with Maniratnam Sir in itself was the ultimate motivation and she concluded by stating that the ace director would do justice to his characterization. As for the language Lakshmi said she is comfortable conversing in Tamil and will not have any problems with the diction either.
