Actor Aishwarya Lekshmi says she was surprised to see the love coming her way for playing Poonguzhali in Mani Ratnam's "Ponniyin Selvan" as her character does not have a lot of screen time. The film, a two-part saga based on author Kalki Krishnamurthy’s hugely popular 1955 Tamil novels of the same name, features Lekshmi as a "fierce" boat woman.

"I never expected my character to be appreciated, accepted or loved lik e this. I expected the movie to do well, I expected everybody’s character (to do well) because all of them are superstars, I expected to bask in their glory. I never expected to be loved like this. I feel the love everywhere I go,” Lekshmi told PTI in an interview. “My character Poonguzhali didn’t have a lot of screen time but she was a well formed person in her own right. She is fearless, fierce, she does all the physical work that is necessary," she added.

Featuring a star-studded cast including Vikram, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Karthi, Jayam Ravi, Trisha, Shobhita Dhulipala and Prakash Raj, the film chronicles the story of the early days of Arulmozhivarman (Jayam Ravi), one of the most powerful kings in the south who went on to become the great Chola emperor Rajaraja Chola I.

Lekshmi said the length of her role notwithstanding, she just feels honoured to have acted in a Ratnam movie.

"I feel honored that I could play Poonguzhali because the readers of Kalki’s ‘Ponniyin Selvan’, the novel, (have said) she was an icon. I am glad I could play her. I am glad that I could be part of Mani Ratnam sir’s movie,” Lekshmi, best known for "Mayaanadhi", " Varathan", and "Jagame Thandhiram", said.

The actor, 31, who has acted across various languages, Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu, said one thread that binds all her characters is that they are "capable of rising to the ocassion".

"I have been lucky enough to portray strong characters in all the languages that I have worked in, more than strong, very well-written. I feel there is a similarity that all of them have survived something, all of them are capable of rising to the occasion.

"However, there are cultural differences in each character because the culture of the state comes into play. I would like to believe that similarity surpasses the differences," she said.

"Ponniyin Selvan II" released last week.

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