Shriya talks about her Hollywood entry

Shriya Saran

Balakrishna to Rajnikanth , Shriya Saran has enjoyed her acting stint in great style. We get up close with the gorgeous girl to know a bit more about her. Here is an excerpt from our talk.

Shriya let us travel back in time, tell us a little about your upbringing.

I was born in Dehradun. My father Pushpendra Saran worked for BHEL and my mother Neeraja Saran,was a school teacher. I completed my schooling from the Delhi Public School in Haridwar and then at the LadyShri Ram College in New Delhi.

Along with studies, I learnt dance. Back then, I did not frequent coffee shops to kill time. Reading and learning was very important and that was cultivated.

What about your stint with Kathak, when did you start your formal lessons.

As later I moved to Delhi I continued with my education ther.I then trained as a Kathak dancer under the tutelage of Shovana Narayan. Dancing is what I really love doing. Of course, due to my film commitments, I don’t get as much time as I would like, but no regrets.

How did the transition from a dancer to an actress happen?

Well, in 2000, I was selected for the BMG-produced music video Chalti Kyon Hawa by Renu Nathan. Ramoji Films, after watching my performance in another video, offered me the film Ishtam in Telugu. I began my career as an actress there on, I was living every moment of it.After the release of Ishtam, I was back in New Delhi. I thought that I was back to my life and started attending college. Then I was approached by Usha Kiron movies and I signed a Hindi film titled – Tujhe Meri Kasam the Hindi remake of Nuvve Kavali. As the banner of Tujhe Meri Kasam and Ishtam were same, I was very comfortable. It was fun. Then films like Santosham, Chennakeshava Reddy, Nuvve Nuvve and Tagore happened. I was getting there slowly it all did not happen overnight.

Then we saw you in Kollywood.

I am lucky to have acted with all the top Telugu actors like Chiranjeevi (Tagore), Nagarjuna (Nenunnanu), Balakrishna (Chennakesava Reddy) and Venkatesh (Subash Chandra Bose).  Speaking of Kollywood, in Tamil, with Rajnikanth himself.  In 2010, I made my Malayalam debut with Pokkiri Raja  opposite Mammootty and Prithviraj.

I made my Tamil film debut in Enakku 20 Unakku 18. As you know after that the biggest career high for me Shivaji –The Boss happened with Rajnikanth. Everything changed with that. In between, I did couple of Hindi films Thoda Tum Badlo Thoda Hum opposite Arya Babbar and the supernatural thriller Shukriya with Aaftab Shivdasani and also Awarapan too.

Wow! now that you have been there for a while; tell us how do you spend your time when you are out  at the picturesque locales where your shoots happen.

Oh it is always fun traveling. When I am abroad, I go shopping, but you can’t call me a shopaholic as such. What would interest me most is the kind of adventure sports available. I have tried things like bungee jumping, para-sailing, and hang gliding. I really love those.

Oh surely adventure sports are always exciting. So, you have an upcoming collaboration in Hollywood too, with renowned filmmaker Deepa Mehta. Would you like to tell us a little about the experience?

Every language has its own flavor. I love working in the kind of films that I am doing. Most people are punctual in South. However, I like the ‘method’ acting style of Hollywood. For that I had to re-learn everything that I had learnt earlier. It was a great experience attending Deepa Mehta’s workshops and they were particularly useful. Working styles can vary, but if the end product is good, then that matters more than anything. Now I am excited about shooting Midnight Children’s. What a dream moment in my career.

Oh definitely, we hope soon you will conquer Hollywood too. We had a great time, thanks.

My pleasure always, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my fans who have been there always supporting me.