The Nenjathiye of Kollywood

Shraddha Srinath, fondly called as the ‘Yaanji’ girl by her fans in Tamil Nadu, has had an eventful year so far. Having quit her lucrative career as a lawyer, she decided to venture into films following her passion. Little did she know that she would be able to make the best out of her acting stint across languages. Today, directors approach her with roles written for her that are bold and progressive. In a quick chat with the Ivan Thanthiran actress this Deepavali, Shraddha talks about the male-dominated film industry and making a name for herself in it, today.

Favourite Deepavali memory:
Deepavali reminds me of my childhood times, which I spent up north. By then, winter usually sets and it is more about lighting diyas and spending time in the cold! For us, festivals are more about getting together, cooking food and visiting families in the evening. I come from a family that doesn’t celebrate rituals.

When I was 13 years, our family with everyone’s consent decided that we wouldn’t burst crackers anymore. I wouldn’t just attribute it to a pet-friendly Deepavali, but for other reasons too. On one day, the whole country burns up money on crackers, that are made by kids from camps. There are so many issues attached to it, and it is not fair at all.

‘That’ car ride in Kaatru Veliyidai:
I’m not kidding... Karthi was driving really fast— way too much for my comfort. I knew he could handle it, but I was scared as they were shooting scenes of me standing in the car. My hand and the metal rod on the car were freezing because of the weather in Leh. I was literally praying that nothing should happen to us that day!

On choosing progressive characters:
To me, a badly written female character is a big turn-off.  It is not mandatory for ‘mass’ films to have shallow female characters. There have been commercial ventures with neatly-written female characters in the past. I consciously choose progressive roles, and I feel only such films make their way to me.

Being an approachable star:
I definitely want to be an approachable star and be loved by all. It was my birthday recently, and people started tagging me on posts and say lovely things about me. I feel really blessed and if they (fans) can take time to make posts for me, I can reply to them and make them feel the same!

Need for women writers
I don’t know how many female writers are there in the industry. Women can write female characters better, because they know better about their kind. Regardless of gender, I feel that people should etch better characters. Also, it would be different and interesting to see women’s perspective about different things.

The age of an actress is really overrated
The situation is a lot more unfair in the film industry. The minute you hit 30, you are considered undesirable or unattractive. I get that heroes do have a huge fan following which producers and directors cash in on. But, as heroines we are told that we have only five years in our hand to make the most of. I’m like, who writes these roles? I wish we break that image soon enough. There are few heroines who still do great work despite their marriage. Even that comes with limitations as they’re not given glamorous roles anymore.

Skin-show and lip-locks
I have no problem with skin show in films, as long as it is shot aesthetically and not forced or out of context. It shouldn’t objectify women and be written about in the lyrics. Writing lyrics about one’s body is just a way of reinforcing the belief that men can get away with anything. If there are increasing crime rates again women, these things, on some level, do add to the fire.

Direction or production, in the future?
Producing a film is a thankless job and I definitely won’t be doing it. Direction, perhaps yes, but I believe that I don’t have much knowledge about filmmaking. I would definitely want to go back to theatre and direct plays. Someday, when I retire, I’d definitely direct a play!