Actress Shruti Haasan, who likes to celebrate who she is, wishes to not be in the race of being accepted. Instead, she wants to communicate her art to the audiences. The actress speaks to The Pioneer’s Shikha Duggal and opens up about her choice of films, not shying away from being sensitive, and much more.
Sankranti this year will remain very special in Shruti Haasan’s career, as both the films she starred in — Waltair Veerayya and Veerasimha Reddy — released on Sankranti this year were chartbusters at the box office. With these two hits, the actress grabbed everyone’s attention once again! While her fans are going crazy with the success of her films, we asked her how she manages to always strike the right chord, to which she replied modestly: “Working hard in all circumstances”. This is her commitment to cinema. Rather than focusing strictly on the results of her accomplishments, she takes notice of the small steps.
Shruti explained what makes her tick, especially when she’s working with Prashant Neel on her next magnum opus, Salaar, starring Prabhas in the lead role: “I was always drawn towards the world created by him, principally in KGF verse. No actor was considered not so intrinsic; each of his characters in the movie was easy to see. The scale of this film is so grand; on the contrary, observe the director, and you’ll see how soft-spoken he is.”
Her relationship with fame is very effortless. She was never in with the old, social media was never the bane of her existence, and she’s in no mood to fit into the stereotypical standards centered around the cinematic world. The Race Gurram actress shared, “From day one of my appearance on celluloid, all I knew was to be an undemanding actress.
Whatever happens around us as public figures is the by-product of being constantly in the gaze; however, this belvedere is not so steady. It’s not just our film business; even if you’re in an office, one must take a realistic approach. We cannot define stardom ever because even an athlete is a star.”
Shedding light a little bit deeper into the success world, she shared, “There are formulas that always work. Moving ahead in this business, you experience a comedown. Some things are different, per se, for men and women. Women-centric movies will always be non-identical in terms of popularity in comparison with a male starrer, barring a few. Box office collections vary; business models change; promotional tours change, and social media now exists. I am jovial enough to do a voluminous film, but after giving so many blockbusters in my career, let’s move on to content driven films too.”
Apart from a true, deep-seated love of acting, the STARDUST AWARD FOR SUPERSTAR OF TOMORROW winner finds solace in the fact that, along with proactive efforts, you’ll get what you want if you have a bow of teeth-gritting tenacity too. She explained, “I cannot emphasise some attributes enough. Even if you are a megastar, this business works only from Friday to Friday. In my personal opinion, it’s discouraging to be an “artiste” in life.
An artist is busy “creating,” and his creations should be sensitive. Fall in love with the film you are doing, but there is a fear of rejection looming around too. I don’t want to work in a race to be accepted; instead, I want to communicate my art to audiences. When stars take risks, they are heavily demoralised. Why? There is a lot of resistance in this industry to do it, and I chose it willingly. So no feeling sorry about it.” Again, she chooses an independent film over a commercial one solely because of the artistic value. “You really get the schedule finished faster with more of the razor work done. For example, Salaar took extremely longer to be made due to the expansive budget. We have so many actors on board, journeying through so many locations. But the set atmosphere never changed for me, all the actors are my pool of people!”
There’s another difference that she could spot, and that is, “I have been long enough in this industry to know the stark differences between pre- and post-the advent of social media. Society has become more judgmental, and what’s even more worrisome is how internet business is able to lure actors into it too. Mostly for the wrong reasons! Wherever you see a celeb now, he or she is looking so conscious.
Where has the rawness disappeared? Questions are being formed by the journalists based on what they see of us on our feeds! I am not going to depend on my looks; it’s a big no-no. Being presentable and feeling ashamed of your own skin are two different things. To me personally, presence of mind locks the deal! I was too afraid to acknowledge who I was in the industry; I felt like a misfit but not anymore.”
