Archive · 11 Sep 2026
Aishwarya Lekshmi on Caste Questions During Rural Tamil Nadu Shoot
Aishwarya Lekshmi was filming a movie in Erode, Tamil Nadu.
The scene was supposed to happen in 1996.
She said the village felt like it belonged to a much older time.
She also noticed that the local culture was very different from what she knew.
Some villagers asked her what her gotra was.
A gotra is a traditional family or lineage identity.
Lekshmi said she did not know her own gotra and found the question difficult to understand.
She connected the experience to caste-conscious attitudes.
She also said she was not claiming that everyone in the region behaved this way.
Aishwarya Lekshmi described a culturally jarring experience while filming in a village in Erode, Tamil Nadu.
The scene being filmed was set in 1996, but she said the location felt much older.
She said villagers asked about her gotra, a question she had never encountered before.
Lekshmi said caste-related interactions were difficult for her to process and made her uncomfortable.
She clarified that she was describing a specific incident, not generalizing about all people in the region.
- Who
- Actor Aishwarya Lekshmi, speaking with Rajini Haridas.
- What
- Lekshmi described being asked about her gotra and encountering caste-conscious attitudes while filming.
- When
- During a shoot schedule for her upcoming film; the scene being filmed was set in 1996.
- Where
- A village in Erode, Tamil Nadu.
- Why
- She was discussing how the location’s culture and social attitudes affected her filming experience.
- Speaker
- Aishwarya Lekshmi
- Location
- Erode, Tamil Nadu
- Scene setting
- 1996
- Question encountered
- Villagers asked Lekshmi about her gotra
- Experience described
- Culturally jarring and uncomfortable
- Conversation partner
- Rajini Haridas
- Qualification
- Lekshmi said the incident was not a generalization about everyone in the region
