Taking the right turn': Intriguing journey of actor Shraddha Srinath

From real estate lawyer to actor — her journey into films is rather intriguing. Meet Shraddha Srinath, Sandalwood’s latest discovery who’s making waves with her performance in Pawan Kumar’s latest film U-Turn.

Talking about her rendezvous with acting, Shraddha says, “I’ve been interested in acting since the age of 10. But as you grow up, when someone asks you what you want to become, you learn to answer it with a ‘doctor/ engineer/astronaut’ and your real dream of wanting to be an actor starts sounding ridiculous even to yourself. When I moved to Bengaluru to study law, I was looking forward to joining a theatre troupe. During the fourth year of college, I heard about auditions for a musical for which I got chosen. There after, I continued acting in plays and improved.”

After working as a lawyer for nearly two years, one fine day in January 2015, Shraddha got a mail from a Kannada film production house saying that they were casting for a feature film.

“I got selected and I confided in my parents about wanting to quit my job. It took me exactly three days to convince them. Once I had their support, there was no looking back. The film was shot completely, but it never released due to some issues,” shares Shraddha.

But the universe had other plans for her. A stroke of luck hit her when she heard that Pawan was casting for his next film. “Three rounds of auditions and some screen tests later, he told me that I had been selected,” she reveals.

Being the daughter of an Army officer, Shraddha had an adventurous childhood and was constantly moving to new towns. “I was born in a town called Udhampur, in J&K. My sister and I grew up all over India, in quaint little towns, especially in the north and the east. Moving every two years made me very outgoing and very adaptable. After completing my 12th standard, I moved to Bengaluru to do my graduation in Law,” she says.

As a young actor, she feels that now is a great time to be part of the Kannada film industry. “The Kannada Film Industry has been stereotyped as an industry that churns out misogynistic, violent and run of the mill films. I see a lot of young, intelligent, passionate filmmakers who are trying to shatter that image by experimenting with new ideas and concepts. I’m reading a lot of wonderful scripts these days. The actor in me is very happy. Films like Ulidavaru Kandanthe, Rangitaranga, U-Turn, Godi Banna Sadharna Maykattu etc are raising the bar and bringing the KFI back into the limelight,” says Shraddha.

The actress has several films in her kitty including Kannada film Urvi which also stars Sruthi Hariharan and Shweta Pandit. “I play a sex worker in the film. My two upcoming movies for which I’ll start shooting in June are: my Tamil debut with Nivin Pauly, directed by Gautham Ramachandran and another Kannada film by Simple Suni  titled Operation Alumelamma where my co-actor is Rishi,” she says.