Such a Lovely Masterpiece: Shanvi Srivastava

The actress who made her debut with the film Lovely in Telugu is getting lovelier by the day, if her recent award and acclaim is anything to go by. Winning the hearts of Kannadigas as the ‘cute ghost’ in Chandralekha, Shanvi Srivastava, won the best actress award (her first) for her second Kannada movie Masterpiece, at the recently held South Indian International Movie Awards (SIIMA).

The actress has also struck gold after Masterpeice bagging Gandu Endare Gandu opposite Golden Star Ganesh.

She also signed Saheba which marks the debut of Crazy Star Ravichandran’s son Manoranjan. Shanvi spoke exclusively with Bengaluru Chronicle, sharing her  award-winning moments, and much more.

“In fact, I was happy with the nomination itself, irrespective of the result. However, when the moment arrived at the awards, it was delightful when they announced the award for the best actress in Kannada. It will always remain close to my heart, as it’s my first award, and I was literally shivering on stage with Suhasini Madam and all my favourite actors sitting in the first row. I was so confused, I had no idea what I was actually speaking. Thankfully, someone on stage reminded me to thank the director, actors and my parents without whom I could not have come this far,” says Shanvi.

The actress reveals that she had no idea that Masterpiece was such a big project when she had initially signed it. “I realised slowly how important it was, a film with such a big budget and the popularity of Rocking Star Yash. It is only when it released, that I was glad to have been a part of it, and now with the first-ever award, I cannot have wished for more at such an early stage in Sandalwood, especially with so many immensely talented actresses doing such impressive roles constantly,” says Shanvi.

About her role in Masterpiece, she says that while the character was limited, in terms of its presence, she had the opportunity to showcase a bit of everything — be it dancing or acting.

Insofar as her upcoming ventures are concerned, she has already finished shooting for the Ramesh Aravind directed Gandu Endare Gandu (GEG), starring for the first time with Ganesh, and she is also featuring as the lead opposite Manoranjan, son of Crazy Star Ravinchandran.

“I had a great experience working for GEG. I personally do not wish to do more remakes, Ramesh Aravind Sir shot with such brilliance that at the end of the shoot, it looked like a fresh movie. I learnt how to get into character from him. He remains calm throughout the shoot. And Ganesh is just very spontaneous when it comes to acting,” Shanvi says.

About Saheba, the actress feels good about the script — innovative in its making, and is very impressed with Manoranjan’s acting despite this being his debut movie.  It was memorable to have her sister accompany her for the awards, who apparently recorded every second on stage, which made her mother so happy.

Everyone at home is treating the award as another “member” of the family, and it had its pride of place in the puja room for a while, and now she says, it’s sitting pretty on a top shelf.