Jayalakshmi moves from scam to screen

Chennai, June 21 (IANS) Troubled actress Sivakasi Jayalakshmi will soon be in the limelight again, not as an accused in a courtroom, but as a big screen belle.

Jayalakshmi, hailing from Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu, hit the headlines as an accused in a narcotics case involving her and a host of senior police officers in 2004-05.

The attractive actress, in her early 30s, became a household name in the state through a long drawn-out courtroom drama, which ended in her acquittal about a year ago.

Out of public sight and mind since then, Jayalakshmi has resurfaced as a member of the cast in a Tamil film under production by Anbalayal Films in which she plays the owner of a small tea shop outside a college in the film titled "Pazhaniyappa Kalloori".

A scene from the film featuring Jayalakshmi was shot in Myladuthurai last week.

The scene, which was originally planned to be shot outdoors, was shifted to the terrace of the hotel she was staying in as the crew saw no other way of avoiding hundreds that thronged the location to catch a glimpse of her.

Whether Jayalakshmi draws thousands to theatres remains to be seen.