Paris Laxmi

Paris Laxmi grew up between France and India, and Kerala is now her home. She was born Myriam Sophia Lakshmi Quinio in Aix-en-Provence, France, on 16 July 1991; her parents, Yves and Patricia Quinio, are a drama artist and poet and a sculptor, and from the time she was five the family travelled to India every year. The mridangam artist Thiruvarur Bakthavathsalam, her brother's teacher, gave her the stage name. As a small child she trained in ballet, jazz, contemporary, flamenco and hip-hop. Bharatanatyam began at nine, and she later studied under Sucheta Chapekar in Pune and at Padma Subrahmanyam's Nrithyodaya in Chennai. She performs as a Bharatanatyam soloist in India and abroad, and also with her husband, the Kathakali artist Pallippuram Sunil. In Vaikom the couple founded the Kalashakti School of Arts in 2012 and opened the Kalashakthi Mandapam in 2014. Their joint work Sangamam – Krishna Mayam, which blends Kathakali and Bharatanatyam, has toured India, the Gulf and Europe. Her screen debut was in Amal Neerad's Big B, and she became known to audiences as Michelle in Bangalore Days (2014). She is in the cast of Amal Neerad's Bachelor Party D'eux (2026).