Shruti Goradia might be making her feature film debut with Arjun Kumar’s directorial, Sankashta Kara Ganapathi, but her first tryst with the camera was as a news anchor. And now, those skills are coming in handy. While she knew she always wanted to act, Shruti had never planned to give Sandalwood a try. “I always thought I was the right fit for Hindi soaps,” says Shruti, who majored in Biotechnology, took up a job in the hospitality sector, and is now hoping to find her feet in films.
The urge to be an actor started when as a class 3 student she wanted to audition for a serial on Doordarshan. “My mother refused to take me. Two girls from my class got selected for the serial. Every time I didn’t spot them in class, I would also think that I should have done it too,” she says, adding, “Sheer luck, I got a film instead of a serial.”
A stranger to the film industry, Shruti has been treading with caution before signing on a project. It was one of the producers of Sankashta Kara, Faizan, who happened to know her and approached her with the script. “As a newcomer, I was clear that I wanted to make my entry through someone known to me. Since I’ve known Faizan, and the script suited me, I decided to take on the project. He briefly explained the subject and my character to me. Once I cracked the audition, Arjun narrated the entire story,” she says,
Shruti still recalls how she “didn’t move a bit when Arjun was narrating the script.”
“In the end, after listening to the story, I only said ‘Wow’, and thanked my stars for a good beginning,” she adds, Unlike her peers, Shruti did not go to acting school or attend auditions. Instead, she chose to anchor live stage shows which helped her build her network. “I freelanced as an MC and anchor during my college days, which is how I made contacts. That’s how I got to know Faizan. During my anchoring days, I figured out that I love the camera and being in the midst of action. It gave me confidence that I can deliver what I want to say and turned out well for me during the shoot for my Sankashta Kara Ganapathi,” reveals Shruti, who plans to continue anchoring between her film projects.
In Sankashta... Shruti plays a love interest to Likith Shetty, who is suffering from the Alien Hand Syndrome. Unlike heroines, who’ve had to ‘fight against a proper villain’, Shruti finds herself in a face-off with the hero’s ‘left hand’. “It’s such a different film not just for the viewers but also for actors. Here, with one of the characters being a hand, it’s quite a challenge for the actors. When have you heard of a heroine in love with a hand? There were so many mixed emotions I had to go through while shooting the various situations,” she says.
Shruti believes that as an actor, one should accept the story first, understand its context and deliver accordingly. So, what’s running in the debutante’s mind as the countdown to the release begins? “Honestly, I didn’t have any thoughts while shooting and was concentrating on how I would perform. I am yet to see myself on screen. The thought of how the audience will perceive me as an actor is nerve-wracking. Different people like different things, and it’s hard to understand what will please whom. I am just giving my best. Those who like my film will watch it, and those who don’t will teach me a life lesson. The whole idea right now is to just deliver a good perform,” she signs off.