Shraddha Srinath: Heroines are expected to look ethereal and otherworldly

Shraddha Srinath is known for her unconventional choice of roles and scripts since her debut. The Nerkonda Paarvai actor shared that it's a conscious decision and she wouldn't pick a role if she doesn't find it realistic, at a session titled ‘Women and Cinema: New Beginnings’, at the 10th edition of the ThinkEdu Conclave 2022, hosted by The New Indian Express in Chennai. "I want people to remember what I did in the film,” she added. 

The actor made her Bollywood debut with Milan Talkies in 2019. The film, unfortunately, didn't receive much love. But she wanted to give Hindi projects a shot again and continued auditioning. “Post Milan Talkies, I received calls, and auditioned too, but I never heard back. We are not even told if we have made it or not," she said. Shraddha added that rejection does take a toll on an actor's confidence. "Repeated rejections can break an actor. But I have learnt to guard myself against it.  I believe that my talent speaks for itself. If they like my work, they will approach me.”

Shraddha stated that validation from co-actors, especially from seniors like Madhavan mean a lot to her. "After the premiere of Vikram Vedha, Maddy (Madhavan) called me and said that I act well. You don’t need to dance around trees."

She shared that both in real life and on social media, she is identified as someone who is, 'normal'. "I don't find that offensive. In fact, I see it as a compliment as I want to be remembered as someone the audience can associate with." But that isn't the usual norm with the masses. “Heroines are expected to look ethereal and otherworldly which is not an achievable look."

Shraddha stated that OTT has unearthed the best talents and one has to be exceptionally talented to be accepted by people in formats like web series. “There are no superstars in the digital platforms. All actors get ten episodes to prove to the audience that we are worth their time and attention. To survive there, we have to retain interest.” Shraddha signed off saying that she is thrilled about her upcoming projects, that include a female-led Telugu film, alongside a Tamil film on caste and a sci-fi Tamil project. “I’m so happy to be alive at a time where there are exciting OTT projects and female writers.”