In Sweet Kaaram Coffee, a mini-series on Amazon Prime Video, Lakshmi essays the role of Sundari, an old woman who sneaks out with her daughter-in-law and granddaughter on a long road trip, as the trio enjoy their newfound freedom and explore life. At one point, when they open up about their personal struggles, she tells, “Only when you reach my age will you understand. The past is long gone and I don’t know if the future will ever come. So all I have is this present moment, only this present moment.” And vulnerably adds, “Bayama iruku da (I am scared).” It happens just a few scenes after we see her playfully tease her daughter-in-law and question why she is hesitant to utter the word “sex”.
Lakshmi, who shines in some of the best moments of the series, brings her years of experience to add a mix of lightness, vulnerability and joy to her character. “Sundari and I are complete opposites. Sundari’s attitude, life, and psychology are completely different. The makers took me and moulded me as Sundari,” the actress says in an interview with Film Companion.
As someone who made her debut in the late 60s, Lakshmi has constantly learned and unlearned several skills in the past decades, and with Sweet Kaaram, she is enjoying and exploring the OTT space and new-age cinema. “I am a student, and I am in the process of learning. In this series, I have worked with new directors and many new actors. I have learnt so much from them. They are my navigators and driving force.”
The actress shares that she had a lot of creative arguments with Reshma Ghatala, the producer of the series. “Reshma and I used to discuss a lot. She was very calm and would somehow convince me. Being an old-schooler, I was not a part of the script discussions, and maybe that’s why I got stuck on the shooting spot.” A lot has changed over the years, she points out. “Unlike those days when we used films (film cameras) to record, we have a lot of scope with digital and can go for multiple takes, until we get the perfect shot. With OTT, we also have more time.”
The process of acting has also changed, she says. “Like cinematic techniques, actors and acting have also evolved. There is nothing called overacting or underacting. The velocity differs with directors,” Lakshmi says, adding that restrained acting is today’s trend.
In Sweet Kaaram Coffee, Sundari’s granddaughter is a cricketer and the series touches upon what it takes for a woman to work in a male-dominated field. Like cricket, the dominance is present in the cinema industry as well, she adds. “All said and done, endha hero padam nu thaana kekurom (we still ask which hero’s film?) A movie’s market still relies on the hero, and that’s why we have shifted to OTT.”