Actress Lakshmi Rai changes her name to Raai Laxmi

Lakshmi Rai, who started her career with Karka Kasadara and appeared in many Tamil films like Muni 2: Kanchana and Mankatha, has reportedly changed her name to Raai Laxmi. As per a source, "Lakshmi is now doing action roles and feels her old name gives the impression of being a soft person. So, she has now chosen to change her name to Raai Laxmi, in tune with the action roles that she is doing now."

"Yes, my name in now Raai Laxmi. It is not exactly a name change. It is the same name but it is just that I am shuffling it a bit. I have added an extra 'a' to the Rai as it is going to be my first name," the actress confirmed the news while talking to a daily.

Revealing the reason for changing her name, the actress further added, "I was supposed to do this almost a year ago, but couldn't because of prior commitments. One needs some time to do something like this as everyone knows me as Lakshmi Rai. My family named me after the Goddess. But nobody calls me Lakshmi. People have always called me either Rai or Lakshmi Rai. Even at home, they call me just Raai. Moreover, we have moved many places right from my childhood. So, I haven't been able to spare the time for the name change. My dad has been insisting for a long time that I change my name to Raai as it goes with my personality. Even now, it all seems to be happening automatically. From now on, all my films will credit me as Raai Laxmi." The actress is currently working on two films, Irumbu Kuthirai and Aranmanai.