Shruti Haasan: Using Her Voice for a Better World

Excerpts from the exclusive interview.

As WWF India’s Brand Ambassador, what inspired you to take up environmental conservation, and what specific initiatives do you feel are crucial for India’s ecological future?

As a person, I was not aware of the global climate crisis and conservation myself. It was just a very far away concept. And it’s something that I started getting more involved in because I was thinking about all things regarding the future—as a woman, the future for our children and the future of the planet.

And it was really a perfect alignment when WWF reached out to me to be their ambassador. It was something that I was already invested—thinking about the ecological future of our country and the world and really trying to be more educated on it myself.

How do you think we can create a more compassionate society for animals, and what role can individuals play in promoting animal welfare in their daily lives?

I have to be very honest and I have to say that there’s a huge divide in the understanding of compassion towards animals. When you think of a species going extinct, you think, oh that’s a very far away problem, it’s not in my daily sphere. I care about my cat or dog and I get them the best food. But what people don’t understand is starting from bees to wildlife to aviation to marine life, we are all connected. It’s not enough to look at this climate crisis or what is happening to animals or cruelty towards animals as something that’s very far removed. So instead of saying just compassion to animals, I would say that it is about compassion and understanding for the world that we live in.

You have spoken openly about your own struggles with anxiety and mental health. What advice would you give to those struggling with similar issues?

I spoke openly about my issues with anxiety because it’s something I really battled with and it’s something that I used to feel ashamed about. But the more I addressed the issues I had through talk therapy it really de-stigmatized it and I felt that you know I wish I had had that kind of support or help when I first went through it so that I had a better understanding which is why I talk about mental health. I think it’s different prescriptions for everyone as far as what works in life. Some people feel better using talk therapy, some people are at a point that needs medication and that’s really up to them and their mental health medical provider. But overall I feel the important thing is to be able to speak about it.

It’s okay to not be okay and not use substitutes that society gives you to numb things. Also a lot of people feel why don’t you just talk to your family. Yes, as much as your family and friends love you and they always will, the truth is that a mental health professional is fully equipped to help you get over the speed bumps that you face in life in a very professional manner so I always suggest therapy to people.

How do you prioritise self-care in your personal and professional life?

Prioritising self-care, it started out as me feeling extremely guilty at first saying, oh no, will people think I am not as hardworking or will people think I am moody or whatever. But now over time, I really take that time for myself to do the simple things that make me feel good. I take time to get my workouts in because the release of dopamine, serotonin and all the happy hormones when you work out really help balance me.

I also very clearly avoid situations where I find negativity or negativity from people. I very politely and graciously exit the situation. That is also part of prioritising my self-care because what you surround yourself with is extremely important.

And yes, professionally, we have to interact with a varied bunch of people. But when it comes to my personal time, I always spend it with people that mean well for me, that are good for me. I also spend it with myself.

People are extremely afraid to spend time alone or enjoy things alone or eat a meal on their own at a restaurant or go for a movie on their own. These are all things I do for myself because I always feel that I have to be my own best company first. So I really prioritise the time of things that make me feel good.

What one message or action would you like to convey to your audience on World Environmental Health Day, World Animal Welfare Day, and World Mental Health Day, and how can we collectively make a positive impact?

So, one message or action to convey, you know, for World Environment Health Day, World Animal Welfare Day, World Mental Health Day, all of these, they seem like separate things, but it's all connected. It's really an awareness of not being I, me, myself, and taking the moment to look at the collective and work in synergy with the world around us. I think that's what we all should aim to do.

Can you share a personal experience that sparked your interest in environmental conservation or animal welfare?

I have had a lot of friends, especially when I was younger and I moved to America where, that's the first time I really saw a bunch of people working towards, talking even about, you know, global warming.

I had no idea what that was when I was about 19, 20 years old and seeing them separate their waste into wet waste and dry waste and talk about recycling, talk about biodegradable materials. So my interest in this started pretty early on.

And it’s all thanks to meeting wonderful friends and people. We learn a lot from people who are different to us and have different interests. And I think that’s how it peaked for me as well.

How do you think the entertainment industry can contribute to raising awareness about social and environmental issues?

I think that when we talk about carbon footprints and waste that is made, I was really happy to work on the film Eye, the English film Eye worked on.

It’s the first film in which there was an approach towards environmentally friendly filmmaking, which meant we had tents instead of vanity vans. There was solar power, there were biodegradable waste plates, and there was a very clear focus on reducing the carbon footprint as a movie unit.

Part of the green shoot program that was started by the producers of that film. So it was an amazing exercise to see how film sets can be more environmentally cautious and gracious.

And I hope that we continue that now. In the Indian film industry, we already have certain things that are amazing, which is like, we have silver plates, silverware, as in like stainless steel plates, and tiffin carriers, at least in the South. And you know, the plates are washed and reused.

That itself is a small thing where you are not creating large amounts of plastic waste with plastic spoons and plates. So that's amazing. But there are other places like the amount of generators we use, and how long they run and how much waste we produce.

Also, what happens to the sets that we deconstruct? Where do they put them, are they discarded carefully? So these are the things we can definitely look into in the Indian film industry.

Are there any upcoming projects or initiatives you are working on that align with these themes?

Yes, I make an effort every day. I make an effort to talk about it. But because my bandwidth is such that I am working on so many things, when an organization that’s already doing incredible work approaches me, I align with them, case in point, WWF or anyone else who’s really working towards conservation, talking about these topics that I care dearly about. I try to align immediately and put my support and understanding behind it.