With a few senior politicians busy launching their sons as heroes with home banners, in a rare scenario, former police officer, actor-turned-politician BC Patil, is taking PM Modi’s cue of “beti badhao” forward. He is launching one of his daughters — Shrusti Patil — in his comeback production venture Happy New Year.
The pretty Shrusti Patil has been busy taking care of her father’s educational institutions after completing her MBA, and is finally deciding to test her acting skills in the multi-starrer featuring a battery of popular actors — Diganth, Vijay Raghavendra, Sruthi Hariharan, Dhananjay, Sai Kumar, and many others. Srushti speaks to Bengaluru Chronicle about her debut, and how her father, who is also making his comeback in films after six years, inspires her, and much more.
Shrusti Patil
“Since after my graduation, I have been busy taking care of the educational institutes run by my father back in Hirekerur, as he was busy with his political life. I could not attend regular college, and hence finished my MBA through distance learning. When my father decided to get back to films, he was keen on doing something new and was in search of new talent with fresh subjects and ideas. We heard a lot of stories but it was eventually one of the five stories Pannaga Bharana gave us that impressed, hence we all planned Happy New Year,” says Shrusti Patil.
She is also categoric that her father decided to do a film not just to launch his daughter. “When I heard the script, I was happy with any of the roles that Pannaga Bharana had explained, and even expressed my desire to do any role.
Even before listening to the scripts, my father was very particular — he put me into a proper acting school to get the training and other basics right. Moreover, the character I am doing gives hope, and has a certain weightage to the script. It is not just another glamorous role which makes an appearance and goes away. Almost all the characters played by the seniors actors are of a similar nature,” Shrusti adds.
The girl has already acted in a couple of films featuring her father when she was still in school. A known face in Sandalwood, BC Patil rose to fame in Sandalwood with Nishkarsha and his all-time popular film Kaurava. When asked about what she admires most about her father — as a police officer, actor or a politician, she quips that she likes him in all three avatars.
“I have learnt a lot from him, and he is my greatest inspiration. When he was a police officer, he was very strict and handled responsibilities to his very best, as a politician I like his quality to relate to the public and his patience, and as an actor, he is very sincere and performs his roles with utmost dedication,” she adds.
About the Happy New Year experience, Shrusti, who shares the screen with her father in her debut, feels the team — actors and technical, were very young.
“Working for the film has been great with Pannaga Bharana helping me understand the process. There were no restrictions, and we worked as a team. I have been lucky to learn from the legendary stars in my first film. The director had even arranged special workshops for every character, which gave me the confidence to face the camera,” she signs off, adding that her mother and her close friends have been very supportive.
