Lakshmi Manchu in Maximum City

Lakshmi Manchu

The lines are blurring between Hindi and south film industries as Bollywood actors are taking a stab at south movies, and vice versa. Lakshmi Manchu then couldn't have chosen a better time to shift base to Mumbai. Moving cities is a leap of faith, but the Telugu film actor says she needed to expand her horizons. "I had to give Mumbai an honest shot. In the south, I have explored a wide range of roles, but I want to push the envelope. My lineage is a double-edged sword. My roles in the south come with certain limitations. In Mumbai, the range of work is wider. I am ready to explore web series and movies," says the actor.

Manchu, Telugu star Mohan Babu's daughter, comes with a 20-year acting career behind her. In the past 18 years, she has also taken on the role of a producer. But the 46-year-old wants to approach Bollywood with a clean slate. "I'm open to auditions, and will hop from office to office for meetings. I'm not a star kid in Mumbai. There is substantial cross-industry work happening, and it's a good time for me to start afresh."

Her parents, she admits, were surprised by her decision. "First, I said I was thinking of going back to Los Angeles. My mom panicked. Then I told her that I'll shift to Mumbai. Mom has always been my biggest champion. Dad said ‘Why Mumbai? There is mafia,'" she laughs, before adding, "He had fears like every father who doesn't want his daughter to leave home." On Sunday, she threw a birthday-cum-house-warming party at her Bandra apartment that was attended by Sushmita Sen, Rakul Preet Singh, Taapsee Pannu, Kubbra Sait and Rana Daggubati.