NEW CHALLENGES
MANDIRA BEDI AND LAKSHMI RAI, BOTH FROM
OTHER STATES, ARE MAKING THEIR DEBUT IN
MALAYALAM FILMS IN LEAD ROLES, WRITES KK MOIDU
Bollywood actress and
commentator Mandira
Bedi will play the heroine
in director Rajeev
Nath’s Ezhaam Mudra
opposite Suresh Gopi. South Indian
actress Lakshmi Rai is appearing
opposite Mohanlal in Rock N Roll
directed by Ranjith.
Mandira Bedi
Ezhaam Mudra is based on
Hollywood classic Casablanca.
Mandira Bedi is donning the role
immortalised by Ingrid Bergman in
the original.
Mandira shot in to fame with the
success of miniscreen serial Shanti.
She also played the villain role as Dr
Mandira ‘Mona’ Kapadia in popular
soap Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu
Thi.
Mandira is also popular as a
cricket commentator, television presenter
and got international fame
during the Cricket world cup in 2003
and 2007.
She was one of the presenters of
Fame Gurukul, an Indian television
show that ended on 2005. Mandira
replaced R Madhavan as the anchor
of Deal Ya No Deal.
Mandira has been dragged into
controversies in several incidents like
her criticism of the Bangladesh
Cricket Team after they defeated the
Indian team in the World cup 2007
group. That created a stir in
Bangladesh.
A complaint was filed against
Mandira on the disrespect of the
Indian National flag as well. She
wore the saree on the programme
Extra Innings sporting flags of different
countries taking part in the
2007 Cricket World Cup. The place
of the Indian flag was at the bottom
of the saree near her feet. This
enraged the Indian viewers.
According to reports, she apologised
to the Sikh organisation, SGPC
(Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak
Committee) for sporting a tattoo on
her back, which infuriated the Sikh
community.
In her long span of more than
one-and-a-half decades long career
she has acted in only half-a-dozen
films and a TV movie Bali. She has
also acted in the Tamil film
Manmadhan along with
Silambarasan and Tamil leading lady
Jyothika.
Mandira was born in April 15,
1972 and was brought up in
Mumbai. She did her schooling at
the Cathedral and John Connon
school in Mumbai. She is married to
film director Raj Kaushal and lives in
Bandra, Mumbai.
Her debut in the Malayalam film
Ezhaam Mudra is a return for Mandira
to the South Indian screen after a gap
of three years. She was last seen in the
Tamil film Manmadhan in 2004.
In Ezham Mudra, Suresh Gopi not
only plays the lead role as a navy doctor,
but also serves as a producer. The
movie once again brings the LTTE
into the backdrop and also tells the
touching story of the Sri Lankan crisis.
Action hero of Malayalam films
Suresh Gopi, who created waves onscreen
with his brave cop roles and
punch dialogues, is concentrating on
offbeat films.
He not only follows the footsteps
of other superstars like Mammotty,
Mohanlal and Dilip by producing the
film, but he also seems to be more
interested in quality acting. Ace director
and winner of National Best
Director Award, Rajeev Nath’s Ezham
Mudra, is one among them.
The other forthcoming projects of
Suresh Gopi in offbeat roles are based
on Shakespeare’s Macbeth and another
is about the world renowned Indian
painter Raja Ravi Varma. directed by
Lenin Rajendran.
Mandira mesmerised viewers with
her remarkable smile during the
Cricket World Cup Series on the mini
screen earlier. Her entry to the sports
world created many controversies and
she survived all that and become a
trendsetter. Now, can she make an
impact on the Malayalam film industry
which she failed to do in
Bollywood?
Lakshmi Rai
Lakshmi Rai was born and
brought up in Bangalore and later
moved to Belgaum. She began her
career as a model and was successful
in the field from her school
days. She appeared as a child artiste
in the Kannada film Valmeeki
directed by Sivaraj Kumar. After
watching her modelling as a child,
Sivaraj Kumar chose her for the
role in Valmeeki.
Lakshmi Rai, with her beautiful
looks and pretty smile, won the
Miss Belgaum title twice. After
watching her modelling show, RV
Udayakumar offered her the heroine
part in the Tamil film Karka
Kasadara. Vijay’s cousin Vikranth
was her male lead of the film.
Lakshmi Rai is a tall and endearing
heroine from the Karnataka and
in a short span of time she has acted
in more than half-a-dozen movies
in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada.
She was also lucky enough to
play the heroine opposite senior
actor Vijayakanth in the Tamil film
Dharmapuri directed by Perarasu.
She also appeared as the female
lead of Parthiban in the Tamil film
Kundakka Mandakka directed by
Ashok. In another Tamil film,
Nenjai Thodu, directed by Raj
Kannan, her hero was Gemini.
Lakshmi Rai appeared as the
love interest of Sharath in the
Telugu film Neeku Naaku and acted
in the Kannada film Snehana
Preethina as the heroine of
Darshan.
Although Lakshmi Rai did not
know anything about the
Malayalam film industry, she
accepted the lead role opposite
Mohanlal. The main reason for
signing the offer was the limited
callsheets. She agreed to do the role
without even knowing the story of
the film. Lakshmi was offered roles
in Malayalam films like
Pazhassiraja but she couldn’t
accept them because of her busy
schedules in other languages.
Finally, she appears in the
Malayalam film as the heroine of
frontliner Mohanlal in the musical
entertainer Rock N Roll. She plays
the role of a singer Daya Shrinivas.
Mohanlal appears in the film as a
world famous drummer
Chandramouli. In order to meet his
friends and troupe members,
Chandramouli returns to Kerala.
Music for the film is composed
by Vidyasagar set to the lyrics of
Girish Puthancherri. The film also
features two other heroines,
Radhika and Shweta Menon. It is
produced by PM Venugopal and the
cinematographer is Manoj Pillai.
The Malayalam film industry
always welcomes heroines from
other states. Lakshmi Rai, who
completed an acting course from
Mumbai and gained the attention
of South Indian film industries
with her glamorous roles, hopes
that the singer role in Rock N Roll
will be a turning point in her career.
Moviegoers are eagerly waiting
to see her performance in the film.
They want to find out whether the
actress is competing in the industry
with her glamour or her acting
talent. Will the fans of Malayalam
films be charmed by her magic?
The Gulf Today / Thursday, September 20, 2007 TIME OUT 21
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