After taking that much-talked about U-Turn, actress Shraddha Srinath’s film career is on a roll. With her second Kannada film Urvi releasing this month, the lawyer-turned-actor’s schedule is choc-a-block with promotions.
That’s not all — she has a volley of releases in Tamil as well. She talks about Urvi, in which she plays one of the three heroines, “I play a small-town girl who gets dragged into a city and goes through a lot of experiences that one mustn’t. Even though she’s been through so much, she retains her innocence. She still believes that the best is yet to come and she will meet someone who loves her. Even though her character is meek, she displays a lot of courage.”
When it comes to movies led by female protagonists, Kannada cinema has a long way to go, believes Shraddha. “The change began one or two years ago. But it will take a long time for many people to accept female-oriented flicks.”
However, we do have those who encourage us. Everyone calls them art or experimental films, but I believe Urvi can be as mainstream as any other flick,” opines the actress, who will also be seen in Operation Alamelamma.
As for Kollywood, the artiste has an enviable range of films in her kitty. In Ivan Thanthiran, where she plays a college girl, Shraddha got to do the typical filmi ‘dancing on the streets’ routine.
“It was funny, but a great experience. As an actor, you have to shed all inhibitions sometimes,”she laughs. She will also be seen in Richie, in which she stars opposite Malayalam heartthrob Nivin Pauly and of course, Mani Ratnam’s Katru Veliyidai.
For someone who left her law career two years ago and made an unexpected shift to films, she calls the move the best decision of her life. “I’m actually a very indecisive person. It took me great courage and deliberation to make the decision. I don’t miss being a lawyer at all. I never belonged there and I could see the downward spiral happening right when I was in college. People around me would be so passionate about mooting, practical exams etc, and I was doing it because I had to. It was a smooth transition though,” she reveals.
The spunky actress is quite vocal when speaking up against sexual abuse and recently took part in a protest against the recent abuse of kids at a play school.
“This cause is very close to my heart for a lot of reasons. I watched the Nirbhaya play and came home and wept as I hugged my niece. Now, that she’s growing up fast, I feel paranoid about letting her go out. I’ve decided not to have children because of the way things are,” expresses the actor, adding, “People should start taking these things more seriously. We need to stop being lax about it, have stricter punishment and quick execution,”she concludes.
