Surabhi Lakshmi is naturally elated over being adjudged the Best Female Actor for her role in Minnaminungu. The actor has said that she never expected the award and that all she was looking forward to was a special mention by the jury. Surabhi said that she was stunned when she came to know that she'd won.

The actor, who is currently in Muscat for a cultural program, said, “I never expected this award... I expected only a jury mention... I am extremely happy...I was stunned for some time when heard about the news...”

The jury members thought that she'd carried the film on her shoulders, which was one of the reasons to adjudge Surabhi as the Best Female Actor. Director Priyadarshan, the head of the jury, on selecting Surabhi said, “Her performance looked as if she was an experienced actress. Other jury members thought she was an established, seasoned actress. Surabhi carried the entire movie on her shoulders.”

Four other female actors to have won the prestigious award for their roles in Malayalam movies were Sarada, Monisha, Shobana and Meera Jasmine. Surabhi is the fifth actress to get the coveted award.

Directed by Anil Thomas, Minnaminungu had the screenplay and dialogues penned by Manoj Ramsingh. Sunil Prem had wielded the camera and K Sreenivas had edited the film. Ouseppachan scored the music for this flick. The film also has Krishnan Balakrishnan, Prem Prakash, Balu Narayanan and others in the star cast. Interestingly, the film had also won the Kerala State Film Awards.

Surabhi Lakshmi made her acting debut in 1995 with the film titled By the People. She is a very popular television personality as the audiences in Kerala simply love her north Kerala dialect in the show M80 Moosa.