Interview : Shriya’s striking story

Interview : Shriya’s striking story

This time, the girl in the news is Shriya Saran. The girl who was written off not long ago is today the envy of many heroines in South Indian film industry. The success of ‘Chatrapathi’ has opened the gate of fortune to this actress. Now, she is going to act with the ultimate megastar Rajnikanth in his magnum opus film ‘Sivaji’ with top director Shankar. Shriya has indeed come a long way to reach this spotlight since her debut in ‘Usha’. Now, she is a star that shines in the dark night. Excerpts from the Interview: How did you bag the coveted role in Rajnikanth’s film ‘Sivaji’? Shankar saw the promos of my film ‘Mazhai’ and like it. He called me for a chat and declared that I am the heroine of ‘Sivaji’ soon after seeing me. You know, I was on cloud number 9 and couldn’t believe my ears. It’s a dream come true. Are you aware that heroines like Trisha, Asin and Ayesha Takia were under serious consideration for the film? I was very much aware of it and everybody knew it. But I was lucky enough to get the role. I just can’t express how happy I am. How do you feel to be in demand again after being almost written off before the release of ‘Chatrapathi’? I would say this is destiny. Life is unpredictable. But I have always been busy whether in Tamil or Telugu films. I get offers in Tamil even if I don’t do well in Telugu and vise versa. I got ‘Mazhai’ that way. So, I always keep myself busy. How comes you still haven’t learnt Telugu after staying here for almost five years, as heroine like Charmi and Sada have already learnt it? Ha..ha..ha. I can speak and understand Telugu very well, though my grammar is not good. People laugh at me when I speak Telugu, so I shy away from it. You know, I don’t want people to make fun of me. Do you think Tamilians will accept you working with both Rajnikanth and his son-in-law Dhanush? You must understand that this is just acting. In the past, Savitri acted with NTR several times and also with his sister at the same time. So, I don’t see any point that the people will not accept me now when the people then could accept. I will certainly do Dhanush film. I know Shankar will take care of all these things. You started your career with performance-oriented films. Why are you getting into skin-show business these days? I would love to do challenging and performance-oriented films if the offers come my way. I was lucky enough to get such roles quite early. But there is no scope for heroines to perform these days with all the films giving more priority to heroes. So, I have no means but to act in commercial films. Anyway, I have proved that I can carry off well both in glamorous and performance-oriented film. How do you maintain such a perfect figure? I was born with a good figure. To tell you the truth, both my mother and I are very conscious about health. In fact, it was my mother who taught me how to stay fit and slim. I never eat sweets or ice screams to remain slim. I also do yoga every morning. Is it true that you are getting married to Rajiv Mallu? Ha..ha..ha. Where do you get the news? Please don’t trouble him. We are neither getting married nor in love. You know, he is just a good friend of mine. He may get shock of his life if you tell him this. You are said to be a party animal. Is it true? I think there is nothing wrong in it. Most of my friends are in Hyderabad and so I go out with them because they help me a lot. And my favorite drink is water and coconut water.