Lakshmi Menon – from girl-next-door roles to kidnapping case in real life

Actor Lakshmi Menon, who was named an accused by the Ernakulam North Police on Wednesday in the IT professional abduction case, is an award-winning performer known for her portrayals of village-belle characters in Tamil cinema. She began her acting career in Malayalam films, debuting in Vinayan’s ‘Raghuvinte Swantham Raziya’, followed by ‘Ideal Couple’, before making a successful transition into Tamil cinema.

In Tamil, she rose to fame with her girl-next-door roles in films like ‘Sundarapandian’ and ‘Kumki’, both of which earned her critical acclaim. Remarkably, she was just 15 years old when she began her film career. Her performances quickly gained popularity, and she came to be regarded as a lucky charm by filmmakers, leading to key roles in movies such as ‘Kutti Puli’, ‘Manja Pai’, and ‘Jigarthanda’. She also played a memorable role as Ajith’s sister in ‘Vedalam’, and appeared opposite Dileep in ‘Avatharam’, directed by Joshiy, where she portrayed the character Manimekhala.

Although Lakshmi continued acting into the latter half of the 2010s, she had already expressed her intention to leave the film industry to pursue higher education. She also voiced concerns about being typecast and became highly selective about the projects she later took on. Most recently, she appeared in the comedy-horror film ‘Chandramukhi 2’, which starred Kangana Ranaut and Mahima Nambiar.