Maaman star Aishwarya Lekshmi disheartened to see fewer good women roles in Malayalam: ‘There has been no…’

Last year, there was much hue and cry about fewer strong women characters in Malayalam cinema. The debate was triggered after the industry saw several hit films such as Aavesham and Manjummel Boys that hardly had any female characters, while an exception would be Mamitha Baiju in Premalu. Now, Aishwarya Lekshmi has once again raised the issue of fewer good roles for women in Malayalam cinema.

Aishwarya Lekshmi on women in Malayalam cinema

Aishwarya Lekshmi’s latest film, Maaman, has hit the theatres. She stars alongside Soori in this Tamil drama. Recently, in an interview with Reporter Live, Aishwarya touched upon the topic of not enough roles being written for Malayalam.

"Writers should think why there are fewer women roles. There has not been one character from Malayalam that I wanted to do," said the Kaanekkaane actress, adding that it is disheartening.

"I really liked the female characters in Ullozhukku. Apart from this, there has been no Malayalam film that I wanted to do in recent times,” she explained. 

For the unversed, Urvashi and Parvathy Thiruvothu starred in the lead roles in Ullozhukku, directed by Christo Tomy. Urvashi won the Kerala State Film Best Actress Award for her nuanced portrayal in the poignant film.

Aishwarya Lekshmi, on the other hand, was last seen in Hello Mummy, a horror comedy, with Sharafudheen. She further said, "If I get good roles, I will never say no. I really like the character in Hello Mummy and the mother-daughter relationship in the film worked for me. After that, I have not seen any such characters. Sad to see fewer women roles in Malayalam cinema.”

The Mayaanadhi actress, who has also starred in both Tamil and Telugu films, is also a part of Thug Life, starring Kamal Haasan and directed by Mani Ratnam. She had also featured in Ponniyin Selvan: I and Ponniyin Selvan: II