There was only one person in the world for whom I was heart broken: Shruti Haasan

Shruti Haasan is the daughter of South Indian legendary actor Kamal Haasan and actress Sarika. Very few knows Shruti is also a musician. She appeared as a child actor in Kamal Haasan's Hey Ram (2000) where she played Vallabhbhai Patel's daughter.

She started her acting career in Bollywood with Soham Shah's Luck (2010) opposite Imran Khan which sanked at the Box Office. Shruti went on to do South Indian films and also did Hindi films such as Madhur Bhandarkar's serious-comedy Dil Toh Bachcha Hai Ji.

This year the actress has two Hindi films back to back which is Ramaiya Vastavaiya with Girish Taurani and Nikhil Advani's D-Day. The actress goes candid with Faisal Saif.

How was the journey so far for Shruti Haasan?
It's been a kind of different journey. It is not a conventional journey of a star. I have never been a conventional person. My journey has taught me a lot. There has been success and failure and they both taught me a lot. It's my journey and hopefully, will return more colors.



So you always wanted to be an Actress?
I always wanted to become actress, but I always thought I am too ugly to be an actress. I was always in the sport, in the sun and always running around. I always thought heroines are so beautiful how will I be that beautiful? But I always wanted to be in the entertainment business. I always wanted to act, sing and be a part of it.

What made you sign Ramaiya Vastavaiya?
Actually there were lots of reasons. First of all Prabhu Sir (Prabhudeva) and everyone knows about his work. Kumarji (Kumar Taurani) and the entire Tips team. I was really very excited about working with this team. And on top of it, We had a very good team.



And your experience on working with Girish Taurani?
My experience with newcomer Girish Taurani was extremely wonderful. He is such a sweet person to work with. The whole Ramaiya Vastavaiya process was an enjoyable experience. I hope the audience enjoys the film too like how we did while making it.

This year you have two films releasing..
I am happy that both are polar opposite films. For me, both the characters are so different from each other. In a weird way, it is nice that both the films are coming out on the same day. It just shows the range.



What was your reaction when your parents got separated?
They are only separated but they are still married. From the very young age, I have learnt to accept the people for what they are. And i have always looked up to my parents as individuals. I have always tried to look at life by others point of view. I didn't care if they were together. I just want them to be happy.

But you found yourself as a Heart-Broken?
There was only one person in the world for whom i was heart broken. If a film doesn't do well, You can do another film. If a song is not good, You can make another song. But when you chose somebody, You are at the mercy of that person's love.



Do you feel Independent now?
I was independent from the time i was a kid. I even used to say no to my mother's help during my school home-work. I would always solve my problems my way. I love my family, But i am such a person who would like to sleep and wake up alone. May be this is the only reason why i am devastated at the idea of marriage (Laughs).

Do you believe in God?
My father is an atheist. We never had a 'Puja Room' in our house, But i would sneak out to Church and Temple very often. I get a lot of my answers from the faith that i have in God. I always feel there is some power looking after me.

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Forget my affair with Shruti, How is your sex life doing?

Author Salman Rushdie and Tamil-Telugu-Hindi actor Siddharth get along like a house on fire. The unlikely friendship started during the casting of Deepa Mehta's adaptation of Rushdie's Midnight's Children and now continues although the film is over. 

For the role in Deepa Mehta's Midnight's Children Siddharth was the author Salman Rushdie's personal choice. 

Says Siddharth, Salman says my character Shiva is very special. He is an iconic character in the novel.I always considered Saleem Sinai one of the greatest heroes in literature. And for a great hero one needs some kind of a foil. I play that foil

I don't have the kind of space in the novel or the script that Saleem Sinai has.But I find my character very fascinating.For me to work with Deepa is a dream-come-true.

She's mother-figure and a best friend.I love to her bits.That lady is cathartic.And let's not kid ourselves, Midnight's Children is the 'Booker Of Bookers'. To be part of it is an honour. Nothing like that is being done in Indian cinema.
Expressing a disenchantment with the quality of cinema in India Siddharth says, We're happier with regressive than progressive cinema, more eager to crossover into the West than to make pan-India films. It's really disturbing. I have to say I've been singularly fortunate to get interesting roles. I came into acting with no background in cinema.In my 8-9 year career I've worked with ten first-time directors.

After Midnight's Children Siddharth is again working with a female director Nandini Reddy, this time in a high-energy comedy. 

Says Sid, Nandini is the first director I'm working with who has made a hit film before. I've never done that before. It's taken eight years for a hit director to want to work with me.
In February 2012 Siddharth turned producer with what he calls an autobiographical film. It's called How To Mess Up In Love. I am master of that. I've done it all my life.Young people from far and wide come to consult me on how to mess up in matters of the heart. 

I am urban legend of romantic misfires. It did really well in the Tamil-Telugu languages, and there's talk of it being remade into Hindi. but I've to day Indian cinema has become very comfortable with mediocrity.Every day we celebrate it. 

We've come to a stage where good films are not allowed to be made. There is an embargo on quality work.Bad films are given a boost in marketing and release. Audiences are getting systematically dumbed down. Good films will only work accidently. 

We won't see Paan Singh Tomar for some time now. It's like that illegitimate child whom the father owns up to after he becomes successful.

Siddharth is looking at a rewarding period ahead. I am very optimistic about the future.If I am getting work it means the work is getting better. I came in 12 years ago as this idealistic actor ready to change the system.Now I am in my mid-30s. I am just excited to get good work. I don't care about changing the future of cinema. I act because it makes me happy.

However Siddharth says Tamil cinema is encouraging bright new directors. Even Gangs Of Wasseypur is dedicated to three Tamil directors.So it's not just regressive South Indian films but also quality work that's influencing Bollywood.
Siddharth says he's single. Love will take a backseat for a few years. I am single, and fortunately so.I am obsessive about my work.Relationships need more nurturing than the first few months of excitement. One needs to work on something more endurable.

Ask him about his link-up with Kamal Haasan's daughter Shruti and Siddharth quips, No, I just did two films with her. I've actually been linked with every co-star I've worked with. That's good because I do romantic films in the South. 

Having said that, let me confess I haven't found a relationship of consequence for a while. Until I own up to a relationship it's just a rumour. And by the way I don't normally talk about my personal life. Each time I am asked my standard reply is, 'And how is you sex life doing? ' If you want to know about mine why can't I know about yours?

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Reason why Nikhil signed Shruti despite her flops

After watching her Tamil film 3, Nikhil Advani roped in Shruti Haasan for his upcoming film 

Shruti Haasan's B-Town outings have proved to be duds so far. After Soham Shah's Luck in 2009, she was seen briefly in Madhur Bhandarkar's Dil Toh Bachcha Hai Ji last year. 

The singer-actress seemed to content with her music as well as doing South films. The actress, however, now has two Hindi films. After Prabhu Deva's directorial venture with newbie Girish Taurani, it is also Nikhil Advani's next which has Arjun Rampal, Irrfan and Huma Qureshi in the cast.
The renewed interest in B-Town is thanks to her Tamil film 3 in which she was seen with Dhanush earlier this year and featured the nation's anthem Why This Kolaveri Di.

Says a source, Nikhil signed her for his film after seeing her in 3. He felt she had potential and as his film has a lot of action sequences, the director felt she could do justice to the role. Even in Luck she had a lot of stunts.
Adds the source, With Prabhu Deva there is the comfort factor as she knows him and they bond over Tamil. But for Nikhil's project, she got a call out of the blue from him for the project. She was happy to work opposite Arjun Rampal.

The New Year will see her two Hindi films releasing which the actress hopes that she finds a footing in B-Town again. 

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Shruti Haasan gets a Facebook shocker

Shruti Haasan was taken aback to find out on her micro-blogging site about her Facebook account.

Apparently there are more than 20 FB accounts all posing to be Shruti.

But the actress has no Facebook account and only interacts with her fans through Twitter as she feels it is the best way to keep in touch on social media.

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Hectic schedules take a toll as Shruti Haasan lands in hospital

Choc-a-bloc shooting schedules have impacted Shruti Haasan's health so much that she had to be admitted to a hospital and treated for exhaustion and dehydration

Daughter of southern superstar Kamal Haasan and actress Sarika, Shruti has been continuously shooting for 'Ramaiya Vasta Vaiya' with director Prabhu Deva in Pune.

On her day off, she travelled to Chennai for some work commitment and collapsed there following which she was rushed to a hospital.

As soon as she was discharged, Shruti flew back to Pune to shoot for a song that is being directed by Prabhu Deva himself.

Knowing the energy required for his songs, she didn't cancel the shoot and completed the song. Producer Kumar Taurani is all praise for the 26-year-old.

'Shruti is a very talented and professional girl. Despite her falling ill, she insisted on shooting and didn't want to inconvenience the rest of the cast and crew. We are very impressed with her dedication,' Taurani said.

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Snakes invade sets of Shruti Haasan's upcoming film

While shooting a song for Kumar Taurani's film in the outskirts of Pune, Shruti Haasan was in for a shock. The location was infested with snakes

Initially the place looked calm but when the cameras were set up, the reptiles too wanted their space in front of the lenses! Suddenly there were quite a few snakes hissing all over the place.

The locals later informed them that the place was home to many reptiles. Luckily, it was pack-up for everyone without any accidents.

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Surprise visitor on sets of Shruti Haasan's film

Shruti Haasan and newbie Girish Taurani had a visitor on the sets of their Prabhu Dheva film at Filmistan Studios recently 

The unit was taken by surprise to see Randhir Kapoor mingling with the unit folk.

Apparently Kapoor was shooting in the adjoining studio and heard that producer Kumar Taurani was also on the sets, so he dropped in to visit them and also wish his son Girish for his debut film.
He waited on the sets for a while. The unit was touched by the gesture of the star.

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Shruti Hassan: Language No Bar

Shruti Hassan insists she didn't bag Prabhu Deva's film just because they both speak Tamil

After weeks of speculation, Shruti Haasan has finally been signed by Prabhu Deva for his forthcoming film. The two haven't worked with each other before and understandably, Shruti is looking forward to the project.

Meanwhile, did the fact that both the choreographer-turned-director and Shruti are South Indians played a role in her bagging the role? Well, she disagrees.

Shruti whose last appearance in a Hindi feature film was for Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji last year feels the very idea is absurd. She says, `Our regional or lingual background hardly matters. I don't believe it works that way. Also, I don't think I'm doing the film just because Prabhu Deva and I are both Tamils!`

So what exactly prompted her to sign the dotted line? The singer-actor has a convincing reply for that too. `I love working in Bollywood. And to me, the scale of a character in the film matters the most.

It doesn't bother me whether the film is a remake or an original, ` she adds. The untitled project is likely to be a remake of a popular South film. Shruti stated that she's not at liberty to divulge anything about the role she's going to portray.

On being asked what she thinks of Prabhu Deva's lack of command on Hindi, the actress refused to comment before adding, `Prabhu Deva is very clear, efficient and good with his work. It just helps you keep your focus on your performance and not worry about other things.

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Shruti Hassan is back in Bollywood

After a disastrous start in B-Town, Shruti Hassan has now been apparently selected for Kumar Taurani's next to launch his son Girish Taurani

The film is directed by Prabhu Deva. The south connection? Hmmm....

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Shruti not finalised yet for Taurani's next

Producer Kumar Taurani is all set to launch his son, Girish, as an actor. He says that Prabhu Deva will direct the movie, but clarifies that Shruti Haasan has not been finalised as the leading lady.

"We have not yet finalised her. Wait for some time. Next week we will finalise," Taurani told.

When asked if he has approached Shruti, he said: "I can't comment on that."

The film is said to be a musical, but Taurani didn't disclose whether it's a remake or a fresh subject.

"All I can say is that the film will go on floors in August," he informed.

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Shruti Haasan For Prabhu Deva's Film?

Rowdy Rathore’s maverick director Prabhu Deva is all set to do a Sonakshi Sinha on Shruti Haasan. The so-far luckless in Bollywood star from Luck will be relaunched in style and with substance to go, by Prabhu opposite Kumar Taurani’s son Girish in a hard-hitting massy love story that begins shooting next month.

Prabhu Deva and Shruti go back a long way. Shruti’s father Kamal Haasan has worked closely with Prabhu’s choreographer-father.

Says a source, “Prabhu has taken on himself the onus of re-launching Shruti in Hindi. ”

This ends the hunt for a suitable co-star for producer Kumar Taurani’s son Girish.

The untitled film is said to be “no Romeo & Juliet” romance since we’ve too many of those.

Efforts were on to find a completely new girl to star opposite the Taurani scion. But now they’ve gone for what is being called a “semi-newcomer”

Says a source, “Both Kumar Taurani and Prabhu Deva were keen on a new girl. But then it was felt that working on two newcomers simultaneously would take attention away from the male debutant’s launch.

So the team decided on Shruti who is relatively new to Hindi cinema. But she’s already an established star in the South. She has done a couple of Hindi films that didn’t work. All she needs is that one hit. ”

Confirming Shruti’s casting in his post-Rowdy venture Prabhu Deva says, “We were thinking of a completely new girl. But Shruti seems a better option. She has everything that it takes. ”

When asked what kind of a film the Girish-Shruti vehicle would be Prabhu Deva quipped, “As massy as Rowdy Rathore. That’s the only language I know. It’d targeted at single-theatre audiences. But also for the multiplexes. ”

Prabhu has moved to Mumbai as he has three back-to-back Hindi films to direct. But he hasn’t bought property as yet.

“I am staying in Boney Kapoor’s old place in Green Acres as they’ve shifted to a new bungalow, ” informs Prabhu.

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Shruti Haasan bags her third best female debut award

Shruti Haasan bagged the best female debut award (in Telugu cinema) at a function in Chennai recently

The award was presented by her father Kamal Haasan. Naturally, she was ecstatic to receive the honour from him for the second time.

The last time this happened was on Father’s Day when she won an award in the same category at another event. In all, this marks the third debut award in less than two months for the actress. Let the celebrations begin.

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Shruti Haasan learns to strum

After mastering the art of playing the piano, actress Shruti Haasan is now learning to strum the guitar

"I've been brought up in an artistic family, with music and films around me all the time. I'm a musician, so it was very important that I learned to play a musical instrument, " said Shruti.

"I'm really comfortable with the piano. Also, as a singer and a composer, I always depended on the piano. I've wanted to learn to play the guitar for a while now. I just bought myself one and until I get the time to start music lessons, I'm going to learn to play it myself, " she added.

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Musically Yours - Shruti Haasan

With parents like Kamal Haasan and Sarika, there was never any doubt that Shruti Haasan would make a career in cinema.

However, people were surprised when she first showed her musical side, composing and singing for films and then made her acting debut.

In this special feature of Musically Yours, we talk to Shruti about how it all started for her in the world of music.

Early Days "I started singing at a very early age though it was mainly for fun. I've been singing.

Since the age of 5 but took up professional training only much later. During my school days.

I was really bad at Maths. My scores in Maths were so low that I was given an option of dropping Maths for Music or Arts.

I chose Music and began learning Hindustani Classical Music. Hence, I say that I stumbled into singing completely by mistake."

My Gurus of Music "I started learning music professionally when I was 14. My Guruji in Chennai is Pandit Manohar Kulkarni.

He is really popular there. Besides I also learnt a lot about music and singing from Suresh Wadkarji in Mumbai."

First Break "Strange as it may sound, my first singing assignment was at the age of 6. Though I was raw and untrained, I sang a song in my dad's Tamil film Thevar Magan The song was composed by Ilaiyaraaja Sir. After that I got a chance to sing in a lot of Tamil films.

I remember Ilaiyaraaja Sir calling me to sing a few lines here and there in quite a few films. My first Hindi song was in Chachi 420 and later I also sang in another of dad's films Hey Ram. That way I guess I am blessed to have got a break pretty early in life."

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Shruti to be the talk of the town

Shruti Hassan, after the failure of her movie Luck, is presently the talk of the town. She has been spotted many times with.

The Rang De Basanti fame Siddharth for lunch, dinner meetings, have been seen at parties dancing till night.

Hey both look comfortable with each other. Although her father Kamal knows about his daughter's interest, he keeps silence.

It seems he has no problem with their relationship. After the failure of his affair with Soha Ali Khan, Sid took one year to recover from that.

Soha is said to be dating with Kunal Khemu presently. Shruti and Sid were introduced in a party at Chennai. Shruti denies the talk about her affair with Sid.

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