It takes courage for a man to talk about women’s sexual desires in cinema: Sruthi Hariharan

Having been brought up by a single parent, actor Sruthi Hariharan, who will be seen in Mansore’s Nathicharami says she connects with the film on a personal level because she feels that the film gives women a voice.

Sruthi has more than a couple of reasons to be talking about her upcoming film, Nathicharami. The film has two National Award winners — director Mansore, who is helming the project, and Sanchari Vijay, who plays the lead role — as well as writer Sandhya Rani and music director Bindhu Malini on board.

The story highlights the institution of marriage in today’s time. “In fact, the title means 'A promise to stand by/I shall never let you go’. When I heard the subject, I immediately connected with it. These days, only a handful of films have a strong woman’s voice,” says Sruthi, who is hesitant to term her project a women-centric film.

Sruthi plays the role of a widow who faces ordeals after the passing of her husband. “During their married years, the couple make a promise to each other that they will stay together through thick and thin. However, after the demise of her husband, the woman starts questioning the very idea of marriage.”

Having seen her mother bring up herself and her brother single-handedly, she says that her mother often lived on the memories of her father. “The situations in Gowri Mahesh’s story are similar to those I’ve seen my mother go through. However, the characters are very different,” she says.

“The film has been written from a woman’s point of view. That’s the biggest advantage to a film,” adds Sruthi, who met director Mansore at a film screening and mentioned that she was keen to associate with him for a project. “He said that if a good script came by, he would let me know. That was two years ago,” says the actor, who adds that she chose the story only for its subject, and not because of the award-winning crew.

“It takes courage for a man to talk about women’s sexual desires in cinema. It would have been easy for Mansore to take up a commercial project with a big star, which would have assured profits. But he has chosen to take an unconventional path.”