Actress Sruthi Hariharan seems to be hogging all the limelight even before her first Kannada film hits the screens. The newbie, who is part of Lucia, directed by Pawan Kumar and Gadda Viji’s Paapasu Kalli has now bagged the lead role in the film, Raate to be directed by Arjun.
“I am not made to be a glam doll in films and incidently director AP Arjun was looking for a heroine who can speak Kannada well and has a village girl look,” said Shruti, who had a grilling time during her audition. “I had to enact in front of director Arjun and Yograj Bhat.
Later, I was given a two-page dialogue sheet. I understood that Arjun is very specific about what he wants from the character and very particular about dialogues. As I come from a theatre background, it helped me to deliver as per his expectations,” said Shruti, adding, “I realised that my versatility was my biggest strength after being in theatre and performing dance. These, in a way, help me to sense what the directors want from me.”
Previously Shruti was offered to be part of Bajarangi, directed by Harsha. “I couldn’t commit as I had other priorities. Now I am ready to take up Raate, which they plan to start sometime mid-April and I will be working on it for three full months,” she said. Though acting comes easy for Shruti, she found dubbing to be difficult. “This is the first time I was dubbing for my film Lucia and I felt it was tough. What made it more complicated was that I had to give different voices as I have two shades in the film. It took almost 24 hours but I am still to finish,” she laughs.
Shruti is paired up opposite another newcomer Dhanajay. “I recently met him for the first time and we both hope to contribute towards good films to the Kannada industry,” she says.