Hyderabad, June 02: The spirited chick of the Haasan household is no pushover. Her debut in B-town with Luck might not have struck gold, but her rockstar attitude has catapulted her to fame, across many states. And in Andhra Pradesh, her Anaganaga Oka Dheerudu with chocolate boy Siddharth garnered a lot of attention, thanks to the chemistry and sizzle factor of the lead pair both on-and off-screen. It was reported in sections of the press about her live-in relationship with Siddharth and her recent relocation to Hyderabad has only brought the couple back into focus.
“I am not here to clear or clarify any rumours or speculations,” she says firmly, when asked about Siddharth. “I do not want to talk about my private life. Barring personal queries anything on films is welcome.” So, why then is she moving to Hyderabad? “It is just a work-related decision that I took and nothing else,” says the actor who previously shifted to Mumbai to focus on Bollywood. Guess Hyderabad is proving to be more welcoming than Mumbai as Shruti gushes, “The city has a unique atmosphere and it feels lovely.” The fact that dad Kamal is friends with lots of the Tollywood bigwigs must have helped too.
“I am proud to be Kamal’s daughter. He is my all-time inspiration. But as far as work goes, he does not have any say. No matter whose son or daughter, it is one’s work which should speak for her/him. I believe in that.”
She might have settled in well but Shruti is friendless in the city and says work keeps her completely occupied. “I am occupied with shooting, so haven’t gone out too much in Hyderabad. I haven’t made any friends in the city yet, it’s purely been work. However, I am on social networking sites constantly and love being in touch with my old-time friends in Chennai. I wish to make friends soon so I can perfect Telugu too. This city is welcoming and the biryani is something that I crave for.” Skinny Shruti confesses that she has people in town telling her to lose weight and that she hasn’t taken any offense! She certainly has warmed up to the city!
After talking about how happy she is to be currently living in Hyderabad, Shruti decided to change the topic and talk about work. Talking about Suriya, her co-star in 7 Aum Arivu, she says, “It’s been great working with Suriya. He is friendly, has no airs and his calmness adds to the positive energy on the sets.”
And how is Siddharth the co-star, her male lead in O My Friend? “I look at him as a senior. I have learnt a lot from him. He is such a giving actor and supremely energetic. We always have fun on the sets,” she says with a straight-face.
Is she not apprehensive about the presence of yet another heroine Hansika Motwani in the flick? “Uh? It is a script that decides the various characters in a film. So, all I am bothered about is my role and how to make it better.” Shruti has also signed a new film with Jr NTR. “I have a wonderful, unique character in this untitled movie. I am super busy working with different cast and crew,” she says with satisfaction.
With her kitty full, has her singing career taken a backseat? “Yeah, to be honest, my music direction is not happening now. But my collaboration work is going on and I do lend my voice to several songs. Recently, I rendered a song for Manikanth Kadri (son of saxophone exponent Kadri Gopalnath) for a Tamil film Udhayan. That way the musician in me is still alive.” Can we expect her vocals in 7 Aum Arivum? “We haven’t gotten into it as of yet, though I have worked with Harris Jayaraj, it’s purely a creative call which has to be taken by AR Murugadoss and the composer.”
-Agencies