'Monster' actress opens up on essaying lesbian characterActor and producer Lakshmi Manchu marked her Mollywood debut this year with Mohanlal’s action thriller ‘Monster’. Much to the maker's dismay, the film didn’t strike a chord with the audience alhough the film got its due recognition when it started streaming on Disney+ Hotstar, in early December. The film sees Lakshmi and her co-actor Honey Rose engaging in intimate scenes including lip locks. Now in an exclusive interview, Lakshmi opened up on the reaction she received. She says “The response has been from how could you do that? and people closing their eyes to me becoming their latest crush. I’ve heard it all (laughs).” She also talked about the difficulties she faced while filming the scenes. “I really didn’t think that it would be as difficult as it turned out to be. I’ve no inhibitions when it comes to doing an intimate scene be it with a girl or a boy. But when I had to do what I had to do in Monster, it wasn’t easy, and I was like, ‘My god!' in Monster, the intimacy portrayed was for a genuine reason. There have been homosexual characters in films, right from Kamal Haasan sir’s movie to anything that’s coming up. It’s just that we haven’t seen two women before so openly,” says Lakshmi.Further elaborating on the taboo topic, the actress said, “I hope this sets an example. I really want to be the torch-bearer of things that aren’t spoken about and normalise things that need to be spoken about. I’m just too blessed to have been able to work on a film like this. To be able to tell something like this through a film is very heart-touching,” she remarked.“We’re still fighting to normalise the man-woman relationship. But yes, I think homosexuality is a bigger struggle. I don’t know why people make it such a big deal. But we can came a long way from two lovers behind two flowers or a tree to actually be able to kiss onscreen! Hopefully, we will keep pushing these boundaries,” stated the actress.