Varalaxmi Sarathkumar


Varalaxmi Sarathkumar is an Indian actress who has appeared in Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada films. She made her debut with the Tamil film Podaa Podi, portraying a London-based dancer.

Early life

Varalaxmi was born to actor Sarathkumar and Chaya on 5 March 1985. Her stepmother is actress Raadhika.
She is the eldest of four children, with a younger sister Pooja, a younger half-brother Rahul and step-sister Rayanne Hardy. Varalaxmi is a graduate in Microbiology from Hindustan Arts and Science college, Chennai with a Master in Business Management from the University of Edinburgh. She honed her acting skills at Anupam Kher’s Acting School in Mumbai, before becoming a professional actress.

Career

As the daughter of actor Sarathkumar, Varalaxmi regularly received film offers from directors in the early 2000s. She auditioned for Shankar's Boys and was selected to play the lead role, before her father requested her to turn down the opportunities. Likewise, she also missed out on opportunities to act in Balaji Sakthivel's Kaadhal and Venkat Prabhu's Saroja.
Varalaxmi signed on to star in Vignesh Shivan's romantic drama film Podaa Podi during June 2008, citing that the opportunity to portray a London-based dancer had excited her. The film went through a protracted development, taking four years to make, before being released in October 2012. Co-starring alongside Silambarasan, Varalaxmi won critical acclaim for her performance. Rediff.com noted she was the "scene stealer" and added "she comes across as a genuine, warm person, able and willing to accept those around her for themselves, and rattles off her dialogues with such spontaneity and charm that she wins you over right away". Likewise, a critic from Sify.com wrote she "is the big surprise here as she makes a promising debut and brings alive her character with not just those smart lines, but with the kind of confidence and candour". The film also performed moderately at the box office, and performed particularly well in the multiplexes. Soon after the film's release, Varalaxmi worked on Sundar C's masala film Madha Gaja Raja, alongside Vishal, but the film remains unreleased owing to financial troubles.
Her second release was the Kannada film Maanikya, alongside actor Sudeep, and the film went on to become amongst the most profitable Kannada films of the year. In 2014, she began filming for Bala's Tharai Thappattai, where she had to lose ten kilograms to portray a karakattam dancer.
In 2016, she announced on Twitter that she has been cast alongside Mammootty in the Malayalam film Kasaba. In her tweet, the actress said that the big opportunity to work alongside Mammootty came to her apparently due to her performance in the Tamil film Tharai Thappattai. Varalaxmi was also committed to starring in Aakasha Mittaayee, the Malayalam remake of the Tamil film Appa but left, citing the behaviour of its producers who she called "mannerless". Varalaxmi is currently awaiting the release of two of her films, Sathya and Echcharikkai. In the latter, she essays the role of a dancer who has been kidnapped for money. Varalaxmi turned as Host for a TV show titled "Unnai Arindaal" which will be aired on every Sunday in Jaya TV from 14 October. She played antagonist in the Tamil movie, Sarkar.

Filmography

YearFilmRoleLanguageNotes
2012Podaa PodiNishaTamil
2014MaanikyaSindhuKannada
2015RannaHerselfKannadaCameo appearance in the song, What to do?
2016KasabaKamalaMalayalam
2016Tharai ThappattaiSooravaliTamil
2017Vikram VedhaChandraTamil
2017NibunanVandanaTamil
2017VismayaVandanaKannada
2017SathyaAnuya BharathwajTamil
2017KaattuMuthulekshmiMalayalam
2017MasterpieceACP Bhavani DurgaMalayalam
2018Mr. ChandramouliBairaviTamil
2018EchcharikkaiSwethaTamil
2018Sandakozhi 2PechankarasiTamil
2018SarkarKomalavalliTamil
2018Maari 2VijayaTamil
2019Neeya 2DeviTamil
2019Tenali Ramakrishna BA. BLVaralaxmi DeviTelugu
2020Velvet NagaramUshaTamil
2020DannyKunthavaiTamilZEE5 film
2020Kanni RaasiAnjaliTamilPost-production
2020RanamKannadaPost Production
2020KaatteriMaathammaTamilPost Production
2020PambanTamilPost Production
2020ChasingAthiraTamilFilming
2020KrackJayammaTeluguFilming
2020Piranthal ParasakthiTamilFilming
2020NaandhiAadhyaTeluguFilming
2020ColorsTamilFilming
2020----

Television

Awards and nominations