Just five years ago, she was in the throes of dance moves, working as assistant choreographer, and even background dancer with “star” actors around her. Now, things have changed for the talented and beautiful actress Sruthi Hariharan. The svelte star who saw a sea of change in her career ever since she gave a nod to Cinema Company, was later catapulted to a dream world with Lucia.
Currently awaiting three Kannada releases Jai Maruthi 800, Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu, and Sipaayi with a few films in Tamil too, the actress’s career is slowly taking shape. She recently started shooting for her latest Kannada venture Urvi, and speaks exclusively to Bengaluru Chronicle about her dancing journey, her acting and the inherent wish to tell her own story onscreen.
That apart, she is also busy with Madha Mattu Manasi alongside Prajwal Devaraj, and has recently signed Beautiful Manasugalu where she is making a comeback with her Lucia co-star Neenasam Satish. She is also co-hosting a dance reality show.
“Basically, I am going crazy with work when compared to earlier, when I had no work at all. I love to work, and it’s that passion which drives me and keeps me focused. I have accepted the Dance Dance reality show for the sole reason that I love dance, and so far it has been a completely different experience shooting for the small screen. I am usually asked about my career since Lucia, and I am extremely fortunate that every year, I am getting offers. I consider myself lucky as I could have stopped working in the industry before I ventured into acting.
However, I feel there have been a lot of discrepancies in my journey with gender inequality in terms of work when actresses are treated as ‘pretty dolls’ in star films,” reveals Shruthi Hariharan. She stresses that such attitudes towards actresses should change and that while she is slowly learning to get accustomed to such conditions, it’s not the right way forward.
As an actor, Shruthi feels that it is normal to want more, and not just be satisfied by what is in her kitty, she feels extremely happy at how things have panned out in her career so far. “I was good at studies, and most people in my family thought I would become a scientist or achieve something in dance. However, when I chose acting, it initially took sometime for them accept. My mother has always been my greatest strength. She shields me from prying questions, though she jests nowadays that I have forgotten home! Being an actress has its own stereotypes,” says Shruthi. In Urvi, she plays one of three main characters centred around the strength of women. “Primarily, men are considered strong (physically) but women are not weak.
Urvi talks about such inner strength. The recent spate of good films in the Kannada industry is all thanks to talented writers and makers though I feel the credit should go to the audience who is open to a new kind of cinema, away from commercial masala movies. Some day, I wish to tell my own story, the process has already begun in my mind,” Shruthi reveals adding that she will direct soon.
Dance, for her, has always had an emotional bond and since she has been away from it often, she, “Switches to music and dance in my mind, and those moments help me manage pretty well,” she smiles.
