'My passion for acting grew with time'

The first-ever public-funded Kannada film, ‘Lucia’, is clearly experimental not just with its financing but the way in which the story has been told. It has already created a stir in the theatres.

The movie has worked wonders for the people who were a part of the project. Actress Sruthi Hariharan, who played the role of a young actress in ‘Lucia’, has also grabbed much attention. After her debut in the Malayalam movie ‘Cinema Company’ in 2011, the actress was busy working in independent movies and theatre.

She had waited long and hard for a good break when ‘Lucia’ was offered to her. The film has given her the break that she was looking for in the Kannada film industry. It has also raised expectations about her. Her next movie will be crucial and Sruthi says that she had to be very careful before signing her next project.

“I come from a very orthodox family. As I was inclined to cultural activities and theatre, my passion for acting grew with time. Though I love acting, I knew I can’t do roles of a ‘typical’ heroine, so I had to really wait for good scripts which gave me opportunities to learn and perform. ‘Lucia’ has been a wonderful start to my career in Kannada films. Now I have couple of projects in hand of which I am proud of,” says Sruthi.

Is it easy to make choices without any ‘godfather’ in the industry to guide her?
   “I don’t have any ‘godfather’ in the film industry. But I do have many well-wishers who have supported me and who believe in me. And I do take their advice into consideration but at the end of the day, my decision is mine alone, good or bad,” says Sruthi, whose two Malayalam movies Thekku Thekkoru Desathu and ‘Call Me @’ are slated for release.

While many believe that opportunities for performance-oriented roles are less, Sruthi feels otherwise.

   “I feel if you really look hard, there are scripts which offer good roles. It’s just that these movies aren’t marketed in the right way. My next two Kannada projects in fact are completely different. In one, I play a traditional village girl (Raate) and in another, I play a pregnant woman (Dyavare),” she explains.

Dyavare, she says was a huge challenge for her as she had to play a pregnant woman, but she is quick to clarify that it has nothing to do with the Vidya Balan-starrer Kahaani. “And even playing a traditional girl in Raate was different for a girl like me, who has had an urban upbringing,” she says.

Ask her if her family has accepted her career choice and she says, “Since there is no one in the film industry from our family, it was different for them. But they have always supported my choice. They feel now the struggle is finally over. They don’t know that it has just begun for me,” she sums up.