Keerthy Suresh on Mahanati lull: the roles that came after

Keerthy Suresh says the National Award for Mahanati did not bring work right away. In an exclusive interview with News18 published on October 27, she said she had no film offers for six months after the 2018 biopic, in which she played Savitri.

Her reading of the gap is that filmmakers did not know where to place her anymore. "They knew that they had to bring something meaty to me," she told News18. She added that the break hurt her finances but that she has no regrets, since she used the time to rethink her choices and moved towards performance-driven roles.

From Mahanati to the award

Mahanati released in Telugu and Tamil in 2018. The Best Actress honour came a year later, at the 66th National Film Awards announced in August 2019, as per reports. Before that, she told News18, she was mostly playing the girl next door in commercial films.

The roles that came after

The list since then shows the shift she describes, and one pattern stands out: streaming keeps showing up. Saani Kaayidham went straight to Prime Video, Dorothy reached Netflix after its theatrical run, and Akka is a Netflix series.

• Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham (2021, Malayalam): Aarcha, in Priyadarshan's period drama.
• Saani Kaayidham (2022, Tamil): Ponni, opposite Selvaraghavan in his acting debut.
• Dasara (2023, Telugu): Vennela, which reportedly won her the Filmfare Award for Best Actress (Telugu).
• Raghu Thatha (2024, Tamil): Kayalvizhi, in a Hombale Films production released on August 15.
• Baby John (2024, Hindi): Meera Verma, opposite Varun Dhawan, in her Hindi debut on December 25.
• Dorothy (2026, Tamil): the title role, directed by Karthik Subbaraj.

Dorothy and Akka, a week apart

Dorothy premiered at TIFF on September 11 and opened in theatres on September 25. It has been streaming on Netflix since October 23, which makes it a theatrical film on the platform rather than a Netflix original. We covered the date in our Dorothy OTT report.

Next is Akka, a Netflix series from YRF Entertainment that streams from October 30. Keerthy plays the "Akka of Pernuru", with Radhika Apte and Tanvi Azmi in the cast and Dharmaraj Shetty directing. Our Akka trailer story has the Malayali names in the series.

Netflix India also shared a photo of her from the Akka event, where she was introduced as the Akka of Pernuru. The picture below is from that event, not from the show.

Mahanati: 2018, Telugu and Tamil; National Award for Best Actress in 2019 (reported)

Dorothy: In theatres September 25, on Netflix since October 23

Akka: Netflix series from YRF Entertainment, streaming from October 30

Interview: News18, published October 27

For an actor who was once unsure what came next, the result is a run of roles across four languages, and now two Netflix releases in the same month.