Birthdays are usually the most exciting day of the year, but for many, the charm surrounding the “special” day wanes away as one grows older. Not so with Shruti Haasan, who turns 32 on Sunday.
“I am still as excited about birthdays as I was when I was a kid. It has always been that special day that gives me a chance to spend time with people I care about,” she says, as she chats with us from the US ahead of her birthday.
For someone who never started off with the dream of becoming an actor despite being the daughter of acclaimed and successful actors Kamal Haasan and Sarika, Shruti has sure come a long way. In fact, she completes a decade as an actor soon, and is still regarded the toast of the town. Did she expect she’d sustain? “Who knows what will happen tomorrow? At that point, I knew that whatever I do, I have to do it well and enjoy it. I never thought about the future and gave it a go and here I am today,” she states matter-of-factly.
Remarkably, Shruti rose from the shadows of being a star daughter to a star in her own right. “I am proud of my family, but was clear from a young age that I am my own person. I made no conscious effort to come out of the shadows but kept doing what I liked and led life the way I wanted to, it worked just fine,” she explains.
Her approach to work seems to have changed over time, though. “Instead of doing everything and anything or working more because others are doing it, I decided to do what feels right. My career didn’t start off with a bang. My debut film Luck didn’t fare the way I imagined and that’s when I realised that I should just go with the flow and stop expecting,” asserts Shruti, who says she hasn’t slowed down in terms of work but has just “stepped back”.
“There have been some films wherein I realised it wasn’t what I had signed up for. I don’t want to be in that position anymore and want to enjoy every moment of the process,” she adds.
Point out to her how she has broken norms by being a sought-after name in the industry despite being on the “wrong side of thirty”, and she rebuffs, albeit graciously, “There’s a reason I refuse to answer that. Because it shouldn’t be asked anymore! No male actor is asked why he plays a college student at 40.”
Apart from work, Shruti has been in the news for her relationship with London-based actor Michael Corsale. Prod her, and she says with a laugh, “I don’t like to talk about relationships because I’ve never really had a private life. Since the time I was born, I have belonged to everyone. So I am very possessive about my personal life. I am not hiding anything as such but I am not screaming from the rooftops either as I don’t want all that attention on it. But yes, I am in a happy space by the grace of God,” she reveals.
And are the rumours of an impending wedding true? “It’s really funny that people have everything planned from the venue to my attire! I am apparently getting married next month. I have just learnt to ignore all this,” she says, signing off.
