Chennai, June 8 (IANS): Actor-filmmaker Lakshmy Ramakrishnan says she admires the commitment of octogenarian actor Subbulakshmi, who has worked in her upcoming Tamil directorial "Ammani".

The film features Lakshmy in the title role.

"I was in awe of her (Subbulakshmi) commitment. She was required to walk barefoot for many hours through the course of the shoot, but she never complained about it. She worked day in and night to complete the shoot quickly," Lakshmy told IANS.

It was the "enthusiasm" and "zest" of Subbulakshmi that inspired Lakshmy the most.

"She doesn't like to be called Paatti (granny). She wants to be called Akka (sister)," Lakshmy said.

"Ammani" is based on the inspiring yet funny attitude towards life of a 79-year-old woman ragpicker whom Lakshmy had met in real life.

Besides directing the film, Lakshmy has played the lead and admits it was "extremely challenging" to do both.

"I've never done something like this before. I play a north Madras resident, who works as a help in a government hospital. I had to pick up on a new accent and change my body language to suit the character," said Lakshmy, who felt nobody else could've played the title role better because she had "conceived" it and "lived" with it.

Produced by Ven Govinda, who also felt only Lakshmy could do justice to the protagonist; the film also features Nithin Satya and Balaji in important roles.