Over the past five years, Raai Laxmi’s appearances in Telugu films have been far and few in between. Just three ‘special songs’ in all – Lucky Lucky Rai (Balupu), Tauba Tauba (Sardaar Gabbar Singh) and Ammadu
Let’s do Kummudu (Khaidi No 150) – where she scorched the screen, shaking a leg with Tollywood superstars Ravi Teja, Pawan Kalyan and Chiranjeevi respectively. So, it does come as a surprise to see Laxmi headlining a comic caper directed by a debutant, featuring relatively unknown comedians, Praveen and Madhu Nandan. “I loved the script; it had me in splits all through. It’s the perfect blend of comedy, horror and will be total paisa vasool,” quips the Mollywood siren, who has begun shooting for the film.
Titled Where Is The Venkata Lakshmi, the movie, directed by Kishore Kumar also has actors Poojitha Ponnada and Karthik in brief roles. “The film is set in a village and I play a sexy school teacher, a la Sushmita Sen in Main Hoon Na. So you’ll see me wearing a lot of chiffon sarees. The story revolves around my character, while Praveen and Madhu drive the narrative forward with their antics, amidst rival gangs of villains slugging it out,” elaborates the actress.That’s not all. Laxmi has one more Telugu film in her kitty in which she plays a larger-than-life cop. “This untitled film is an action thriller based on the Nirbhaya rape case. Karri Balaji is directing the film. I play a cop and Anjali plays the victim. My character is very similar to what Rani Mukherjee played in Mardaani,” says the actress, signing off.
