Dweeb. Weird. Feminist. These are not just arbitrary words, but tags that actor-musician Shruti Haasan gives herself in the course of this interview. She also calls herself ‘The Shruti Buffet’ considering the various avenues she uses to express her creative artistry. “Some like me for Ramayya Vastavayya. Some like Best Seller. Some like me for the music, and some others relate to what I post on social media. Interestingly, I saw how a new generation of teenagers celebrated 3 in a recent re-release in the Telugu states. I suppose I’m like a buffet in that sense,” says a jubilant Shruti having added one more label to her already multi-hyphenated resume.
Asking her questions can be rather unnerving on account of her intimidating resting face. However, a few questions in, and you see that it’s as a result of preconceptions. Shruti admits that her fiercely independent or opinionated was once misconstrued as arrogance, but that, now, people see her for who she is. “They realise I am a dweeb. They know I am not arrogant but just weird,” says Shruti, who attributes social media to giving her the platform to put herself out there. “It is not like I am sharing every single aspect of my life even now. But I have always been known for my outspoken nature. When you tell a person like me to be quiet for so long, it jars with their personality. Following what others thought I was supposed to be instead of just being me started to have repercussions in the movies I did, the people I surrounded myself with, and the choices in my life. So, I took a break to reassess who I was.”
If social media gave Shruti a new platform to express herself creatively through music, art, and memes, it also gave her a legion of fans for just being ‘real’. In fact, in the past 24 hours, the stories that Shruti has shared on social media, include two of them about her illustrious parents, Kamal Haasan and Sarika, a workout routine, a couple of cat videos, a throwback to the time the legendary SP Balasubrahmanyam called her his daughter, the BTS footage of La La Land, a cookbook featuring recipes from Studio Ghibli productions, and a post about an elephant pooping on its calf’s head. “I used to be guarded and didn’t let go of my inhibitions. During the lockdown, I realised a lot of people didn’t know a lot about me. Still, people were writing all kinds of untrue news articles about me. I got tired and exhausted, and realised only I could change the narrative about me. If people listen to my song, read my lyrics, come across a silly post or meme, and say, ‘Aha! She gets it!’ that’s good enough for me. I’m really excited about this phase of my career because I can finally articulate my wants.”
While there is no doubt that Shruti is one of the more unconventional stars of Indian cinema, her filmography is populated with rather mainstream choices. While she did an odd 3 in Tamil or a D-Day in Hindi, more often than not, her choices were big star vehicles. However, even in these films where she did do the template song-and-dance routines, Shruti found roles that weren’t just run of the mill. “Could I have pushed and worked towards even better characterisations? Yes. But in terms of economics, it is only the blockbusters that cinema values and I have been part of major ones in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu. I knew my roles in Waltair Veerayya and Veera Simha Reddy weren’t going to be groundbreaking, but I had fun playing them. Salaar is a step in the right direction because of the intelligence in the writing. My role is pivotal to the story’s progress,” says Shruti, who has a twinkle in her eye as we talk about her next international production, The Eye. “It was an emotionally ripping experience. It was a beautiful exhaustion that I last felt while I did 3 and D-Day.”
‘my music is like a cave’
There was a sense of palpable excitement when Shruti spoke about The Eye, which is written by Emily Carlton, produced by Melanie Dicks, and directed by Daphne Schmon. “It was the sisterhood of fiercely creative, opinionated, and brilliant maharakshashis,” says Shruti, adding, “It was an unbelievably different experience. When it came to interpreting the character, it was fascinating to see how women writers and makers perceive the role. It was a bunch of women talking about the women we know, our inspirations, and even the women we didn’t have the resources to help then. It was all about being heard.”
Even before making her presence felt as an actor in Tamil cinema, it was the musical talents of Shruti that was her primary identity. Having done playback singing, and even composed the music for the 2009 film, Unnaipol Oruvan, starring Kamal Haasan and Mohanlal, Shruti opens up about how it was initially difficult to be heard as both an actor and a musician. “When I started out as an actor, I was asked to not talk about music. They said people will get distracted and think I was not serious about acting. But the scenario is better now, and multitasking is seen as an important quality,” says the actor who continues to face the question about her absence from Tamil cinema. “I know the reality. I really didn’t have the time to allot dates. Also, all actors are jumping across languages and fields, and all I’m working towards is to become a better artist than I was yesterday.”
Shruti strongly believes it is not enough to hone artistic skills but also work on the self because the soul is the vessel that produces the art. It is probably why a lot of her songs are about her journey and finding a way to let her inner voices ring out loud. “When I am writing a song, it is for another part of me to read it now, or even 30 years later. My writing comes from different fragments inside me. Of course, I have been an open book, but there are sides of me that I don’t show anyone. They are not dark or evil, but just afraid and nervous. That is why my songs are autobiographical in nature, and while performing them on stage, I tap into my acting lessons to bring out these different personalities. Some musicians create a circus or a carnival that everyone wants to go in. My music is like a cave that not everyone would like to visit, but I found my light in those shadows,” says the musician.
It is the voices from these shadows that Shruti believes need to be amplified. Known for her candid conversations about mental health, and women empowerment, Shruti believes feminism is the way forward and not just an optional path. However, she is aware of how it is anything but easy for the ones fighting the good fight. “We are very careful about what we are speaking, but we are not having conversations with people with opposing or dissenting opinions. Many are just thriving in echo chambers. There are a lot of conversations about society, feminism, and gender identity, but are we really listening? When all of us are talking, who is listening then?” asks Shruti reiterating how feminism is being bashed as a result of being misconstrued as propagating anti-men sentiment. “The biggest influences in my life have been the most amazing men, starting from my father. He has been a great role model for a daughter. He taught me independence, fearlessness, and loyalty to the self. Feminism means different things today, but from what I know, I am a feminist, and there are no two ways about it,” signs off Shruti.