[citation needed] Lakshmi then went on to appear in a number of commercially successful films in various languages without a hesitation or diction.

She dubs her voice for all of her movies, irrespective of the language and remains one of the very few critically acclaimed stars to achieve this stage.

Lakshmi made her Bollywood debut in 1975, with the woman-centric Julie, the remake of Malayalam film Chattakkari.

Lakshmi rose to fame with her first Malayalam movie Chattakari (1974), which won her the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress.

[citation needed] This has the distinction of being the first Malayalam film to run continuously for 40 weeks in a Bangalore theatre.

[citation needed] She is only actress to play daughter, sister, love interest and wife to Sivaji Ganesan even her mother has acted heroine opposite him and has acted with almost all the leading actors and stars of South India, but it was her combination with famous Kannada star Anant Nag in the 70s and 80s that struck a chord with the audience.

When her career as a leading lady ended in the 1980s, she started playing supporting roles as a mother and later as grandmother.

[citation needed] Under K. Balachander's supervision, she made her directorial debut with a remake of Yours, Mine and Ours: the Kannada film Makkala Sainya (1980 Tamil version Mazhalai Pattalam).

[citation needed]She hosted a talk show in Kannada for Suvarna channel called Idu Kathe Alla Jeevana.

[citation needed] Currently she is on the judges' panel for the Malayalam reality show Champions on Surya TV.