Exclusive! Aishwarya Lekshmi: My opinions were given a lot of importance in Archana 31 Not Out

Aishwarya Lekshmi has been journeying from strength to strength with each film in Malayalam. As her performance as Sneha in her latest movie Kaanekkaane is being lauded, the actress is now excited about her upcoming film Archana 31 Not Out that has her in the central role.

In an exclusive interview with OTTplay, the Mayaanadhi actress tells us, “We are waiting for the theatres to reopen. All of us are confident about what we have made and we are hoping the audience also likes it. It’s my first female-centric film.”

Ask her if the pressure is any different while shouldering a movie on her own and se she says, “I feel happier, because I have been there from the beginning and I was aware of whatever was happening. We used to discuss everything and my opinions were given a lot more importance.”

The movie, which is co-produced by Martin Prakkat, has a relatively young team behind it with debutant Akhil Anilkumar helming the movie. “It was a brilliant team to work with. A lot of things change with every film and Archana was a movie that gave me a lot of confidence as an actor. I knew I had to be present 24x7 while it was filmed. There was not even a single scene where I could be like, ‘It’s another person’s scene and I can relax’. That wasn’t the case,” she says. “It’s not a film that required a lot of acting chops because the story steers the film forward and I just had to be present.”

The film also has her playing a rural character for the second time after Argentina Fans Kattoorkadavu. On the challenges it offered, the actress tells us, “The aspirations of the character were different from my earlier roles. When I play urban characters, their education is a given, their next meal is a given. I haven’t played a character who is worried about money; maybe Maayanadhi’s Appu might come close but then we see her getting successful by the end of the film. The struggles of this character are different.”

The actress, who is currently shooting for a Tamil anthology, says that shooting for Archana 31 Not Out was also a different experience. “We shot it in Palakkad, where the people are affectionate. My normal way of doing things was completely different from how I was while we were in Palakkad. I have a lot of cherished memories from that shoot,” she concludes.

Read the entire interview: Exclusive! Aishwarya Lekshmi: I get to play women I aspire to be and that also helps me as a person