Suvaluxmi

Suvaluxmi
Born
Suvalakshmi Munshi

OccupationActress
Years active1994-2003
Spouse
Swagato Banerjee
(m. 2002)
Parent(s)K. C. Munshi
Indranidevi[1]
Websitehttps://suvaluxmi.com/index.html

Suvaluxmi(சுவ லக்ஷ்மி) is an Indian former actress who mainly appeared in Tamil films. She also appeared in Bengali, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada films. Portraying homely characters , she is well known of her characters in Aasai (1995), Gokulathil Seethai (1996), Love Today (1997), Nilaave Vaa (1998) and Nadhi Karaiyinile (2003) which all the commercially successful films.[2][3][4][5]

Career

As a child, Suvaluxmi was passionate about Indian classical and folk dance forms and performed the art forms across regional shows. Her performance on stage was noticed by film director Satyajit Ray, who cast her as the female lead in the film adaptation of his story Uttoran (1994).[6] The film, which was completed by his son Sandip Ray following Satyajit Ray's demise, won the National Film Award for Best Screenplay in 1994 and was screened in film festivals around the world, including at Cannes.[7]

Alongside graduating with a degree of Bachelor of Laws from the University of Calcutta in 1998, Suvaluxmi acted as the female protagonist in several movies in South Indian languages.[8] She made her debut in Tamil films with Aasai (1995), a romantic thriller film directed by Vasanth and produced by Mani Ratnam. Suvaluxmi portrayed Yamuna and paired opposite Ajith Kumar, with her character being vigorously pursued by her brother-in-law, portrayed by Prakash Raj. Upon release, the film won positive reviews and performed well at the box office, with all three lead actors getting a boost in their career.[9] Balsekaran's Love Today (1997) opposite Vijay, also performed well commercially. Despite the success of these two films, Suvaluxmi's subsequent films failed to expand her initial popularity and she felt that the rise of glamorous roles for female actors in Tamil films, meant that she found it difficult to find apt characters to portray and was typecast as a homely girl.[10] In the late 1990s, she appeared in several Tamil films, though her roles and the performance of her films failed to get acclaim. In 2001, she opted to quit films and pursue a career as a lawyer and finally signed up to appear in Ponvannan's critically acclaimed film Nadhi Karaiyinile (2003), for which she won positive reviews, with The Hindu noting she gave a "heartrending enactment".[11] She was a leading actress from 1994 till 2001 and successfully completed 8 years in silver screen.

After her marriage, in 2007 she turned down an offer from Mohan Raja to portray a supporting role in Santosh Subramaniam (2008) and restated her retirement from films.[12] Since her departure from the film industry, Suvaluxmi practices as a natural artist and graduated with a degree of Masters of Fine Arts in Illustration during 2013 from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.[13]

Personal life

She married Professor Swagato Banerjee in 2002 and lived in Geneva and then in San Francisco and then in Louisville.[citation needed]

Filmography

Year Film Role Notes
1994 Uttoran Manashi Bengali film
1995 Aasai Yamuna (Saraswathi) Cinema Express Award for Best New Face Actress
Nominated-Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil
1996 Gokulathil Seethai Nila Nominated-Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil
1996 Kalki Herself
1997 Kathirunda Kadhal Indhu
1997 Love Today Santhiya
1997 Kadhal Palli Uma
1998 Ponmanam Maheswari
1998 Dhinamdhorum Booma
1998 Santhosham Bhavani
1998 Kavalai Padathe Sagodhara Philomina
1998 Iniyavale Meena
1998 Anuragakottaram Anna Malayalam film
1998 Nilaave Vaa Sangeetha
1998 En Aasai Rasave Manoranjitham
1999 Housefull Indhu
1999 Suyamvaram Ezhilarasi
1999 Ponvizha Ponni
1999 Nee Varuvai Ena Dream Bride Guest appearance
1999 Kanmani Unakkaga Sudha
2000 Eazhaiyin Sirippil Thulasi
2000 Krishna Leele Seetha Kannada film
2000 Maayi Lakshmi
2000 Kannaal Pesavaa Poongodi
2000 Durga Ganga Telugu film
2000 Pottu Amman
2001 Kanna Unnai Thedukiren Anjali
2001 Aandan Adimai Maheswari
2003 Vani Mahal Selvi
2003 Nadhi Karaiyinile Jameela Tamil Nadu State Film Award Special Prize

Television

  • 2001-2002 Soolam as goddess Parvati

References

  1. ^ "Suvalakshmi Profile". Nilacharal. Archived from the original on 15 December 2011. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  2. ^ "Suvalakshmi's no to films". Indiaglitz. 24 August 2007. Archived from the original on 26 August 2007. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
  3. ^ Rangarajan, Malathi (28 November 2003). "Nadhi Karaiyinilae". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 8 December 2003. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
  4. ^ Ashok Kumar, S. R (23 August 2002). "Tamil film in Chinese fest". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 26 December 2002. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
  5. ^ "Welcome to the official website of Suvalakshmi". suvalakshmi.com. Archived from the original on 17 August 2001. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  6. ^ "Satyajit Rays son offers film tribute to his father". intoday.in. Archived from the original on 6 January 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  7. ^ "UTTORAN - Festival de Cannes". Festival de Cannes. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  8. ^ "Rediff On The Net, Movies: Gossip from the southern film industry". www.rediff.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  9. ^ Kamath, Sudhish (1 December 2001). "Realistic film-making". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 17 April 2015. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  10. ^ "Welcome to Sify.com". www.sify.com. Archived from the original on 6 September 2010. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  11. ^ ""Nadhi Karaiyinilae"". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 7 December 2003. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  12. ^ "Suvalakshmi's no to films - Tamil Movie News - IndiaGlitz". indiaglitz.com. Archived from the original on 5 September 2017. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  13. ^ "Bio". Suvaluxmi Banerjee. Archived from the original on 4 October 2017. Retrieved 30 September 2017.