Varalakshmi Sarathkumar on working in AR Murugadoss' Sarkar: 'The character will be one of the best in my career'

Varalakshmi Sarathkumar is the busiest actress in Tamil cinema. She is called ‘lady Vijay Sethupathi’ mainly because of her long list of films and versatile roles. Despite being the daughter of Tamil cinema’s yesteryear leading star Sarathkumar and debuting opposite STR in 2012, people started recognizing her as a powerful performer with Bala’s Thaarai Thappattai (2016) in which she played as a bold folk dancer. However, directors started approaching Varalakshmi only after the last year’s blockbuster film _Vikram Vedha_ . “Vikram Vedha is a cult film, it won a lot of awards last year but for me, people’s love me is more important. I’m quite happy with my career progress that directors have been offering me unique characters”, says Varalakshmi. Although she debuted as a bubbly girl in Podaa Podi, things changed after Vikram Vedha. She doesn’t get typical heroine role these days. “That’s true but I enjoy each and every character that comes my way. When I go to sleep at night, my job gives me great satisfaction that I’m able to do a variety of roles which is the dream for many actresses”, she adds. Among all the characters, Varalakshmi feels thrilled about her role in actor Vijay’s upcoming magnum opus political action thriller  _Sarkar_ . “My character in Sarkar is substantial that I feel that it would one of the best in my career. Until now, I have completed one week shoot and what really impressed me is the thorough professionalism of the team. Though I was shooting with Vijay sir on the day of the first look launch, they didn’t even reveal the title to me. Murugadoss sir has strictly told me to not reveal the nature of my characterization”, says Varalakshmi. “The expectation is quite high because of the presence of big names like Vijay sir, Murugadoss sir, and AR Rahman. Despite being a part of the film, the first look and title got my attention”, she says. Talking about Vijay, Varalakshmi says: “I love the transformation of Vijay who is a calm guy behind the camera and when the director asks him to come in front of the camera, he would throw an impeccable energy that it’s a delight to watch him perform”. [caption id=“attachment_4619601” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Varalakshmi Sarathkumar/Image from Twitter.[/caption] In most of her upcoming films, Varalakshmi shares screen space with other leading actresses, but she doesn’t have any ego issues with them, the talented actress says “There is a myth that actresses don’t get along well but that’s not true. In fact, while shooting for Sarkar, I appreciated Keerthy for her amazing performance in _Mahanati_ , it’s her career best. My Mr. Chandramouli heroine Regina and I are good friends as well”. “For a change, I play an innocent girl yet independent girl in Mr. Chandramouli, glad that director Thiru offered me this role which is completely different from other films”, says the actress who enjoyed shooting with veteran actor Karthik in the film. Varalakshmi says that she plays an antagonist in Vishal’s Sandakozhi 2, “my character in Sandakozhi 2 will be loud as I play a Madurai girl”. But contrary to rumors she is not playing a negative shaded character in Dhanush’s Maari 2. “All I can say is I play a powerful character in Maari 2, my portions in the film are almost over. People asking me whether I paired opposite Kreshna in the film but you should wait for the release to know more”, she smiles. Apart from her acting career, Varalakshmi is also a social activist who voices about women safety in the country and has a political inclination. “I’m not associated with any political party. Recently, members of BJP met me to get the feedback of their party. I’m not an active politician now but eventually will get into politics”, says the actress who prefers to not comment anything on Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan’s political entry. “A lot of people are in the race, let’s see who makes it to the finish line”, she signs off.