The wild calls out to us

Lakshmi Manchu

A holiday is often rejuvenating, sometimes even mentally stimulating as you return home with a new perspective. For actor-producer Lakshmi Manchu, her Brazil vacation was just that. The actor - who has featured in American television shows Las Vegas and Desperate Housewives, and many Telugu offerings, including Lakshmi Bomb (2017) - visited Alto Paraíso de Goias in Brazil last month and says the region's beauty has inspired to make an adventure movie set in a jungle.

To Manchu, staying near the Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park, replete with its lush greenery and stunning waterfalls, evoked multiple story ideas. "I got a bunch of ideas sitting there. I'm back now and itching to call my writers for a jam session. The place has inspired me to make something like the Indiana Jones franchise. I find it incredibly rewarding to seek out new locations for shooting whenever I travel. I had mentioned to Manoj [Manchu, producer-brother] the abundance of incredible, unseen locations in Brazil. Travelling to such places often inspires new stories. During this trip, I immersed myself in the culture and lineage of the Umbanda [religion that is derived from Spiritism and combines elements of Afro-Brazilian religions], which has enriched my storytelling abilities with insight from my own culture. Right now, I'm pregnant with ideas and I'll put this rich experience to use," she says.

Her superstar-father Mohan Babu is producing Kannappa featuring Vishnu in the lead, with cameos by Akshay Kumar and Prabhas. Manchu quips, "I'm not a part of it. The men in my family are scared of having me in their movies because I'll outshine them." She is instead focusing on a dark thriller for Disney+ Hotstar.