It was a nice wintery Sunday morning in December 2022. I was lazily doomscrolling through my phone and came across a photo of happily-fed people posing outside a Bengaluru eatery. It was a bunch of people who frequently go out on Sundays to scour through breakfast places in the city. Among those 25-30 odd people, there was a familiar face doing the breakfast rounds. “Honestly, a lot of people don’t recognise me, and in a cosmopolitan city like Bengaluru, I can easily walk on the streets without being recognised,” says Shraddha Srinath, the star of the recently released film, Irugapatru.
Over the past seven years, Shraddha has been part of really landmark films like U-Turn, Operation Alamelamma and Rustom in Kannada, Vikram Vedha and Nerkonda Paarvai in Tamil, Jersey in Telugu, and Aarattu in Malayalam. However, the actor is aware that her trajectory might not be similar to a lot of her peers, but this path is completely hers. “I want to be known as someone who is par excellence. I have so much potential as an artist, and I want to stand out from the clutter. I just can’t do run-of-the-mill roles,” asserts Shraddha, whose latest sees her in the role of Mitra Manohar, a marriage counsellor. A role that she immediately describes as a “tightrope walk” considering the stereotypes associated with a psychologist. “Of course, there is a lot of conversation about having an outsider coming to solve our problems. There is awareness about counselling. We now know it is not cool to crack jokes about the profession. Mental health is not taken lightly anymore. But on social media, there can be all sorts of backlash. Some might see her as too woke, and some others as not woke enough. But I feel the success of the film is due to the relatability factor in the three relationships showcased in Irugapatru by director Yuvaraj Dhayalan, whose script is packed with a lot of research,” says the Maara actor.
But in many ways, Shraddha also differs from the ideologies of Mitra. While the latter is steadfast about giving it all for marriage and holding on to the semblance of hope, Shraddha believes marriage is worth fighting for only if the people involved in it think so. “I am not pro-divorce, but I am pro-choice, and if the choice is divorce, then so be it,” says the actor, who addresses the burden of gender-specified roles that are thrust on women. “Why are women assumed to do the heavy lifting at home after doing their share of their lifting and more at their workplaces?” With such clear-cut expectations and understanding about the self, and the society, I couldn’t help but ask how much of Shraddha does Shraddha need to have in her characters for her to say yes to them. “I don’t necessarily keep such stringent restrictions because it also means I am judging that character instead of empathising with her. In fact, I built up a backstory for Mitra in my head and tried to fathom the reasons behind her machinations. I’d only put my foot down if the character says something absolutely regressive. Otherwise, all is par for the course.”
Calling Irugapatru a film that taught her some interesting lessons, Shraddha points out how the present generation is bombarded with an information explosion. There is also an allusion to the power of the smartphone to make us all move away from the present. “I’m thirsty for good conversations. People are stuck to their phones, and I make it a point to meet my friends in places where we can just talk, and there’s no loud music or any other form of disturbance. When it comes to maintaining relationships, there is a comparison that the older generation valued it more than the present, but I just think the value system was skewed earlier. Now, the younger generation, especially women are expressing their needs and desires. They can now say ‘No’ with more confidence than before,” points out Shraddha.
It is saying ‘No’ that has resulted in Shraddha choosing to do a lesser number of films but ones that will be spoken of for its longevity. “There was a time when I only wanted to be part of films with great scripts and filmmakers with passion. Then, I realised the all-important additional layer of business. I learnt the need for proper marketing, and the ability to bring to life a strong vision,” says the actor, who has no qualms admitting that she isn’t always very proud of her choices but those are small missteps of the past. “In our career, we do films that we are not super proud of, and it is in no way a reflection of our true self. But that’s how the industry works. However, seven years into cinema, I can’t hide behind that reason anymore.”
Seven years into cinema, however, Shraddha hopes to kick into third gear soon and has clarity on what the next phase should be like. “I want to be known as the girl who can pull off anything. I want to do amazing action. I am the fittest I’ve ever been, and I want to do some amazing action sequences. I have very good comic timing, and I know I can ace a well-written comedy. I just want to do everything. Maybe, it would have been smarter to position myself first, but I guess I never got into that template. I just want to do everything.”
Everything, including going on food walks, talking about recent films with a journalist, the need for women to rally around each other developing, strong support groups, and building up a vibrant and vast portfolio that makes people not recognise her easily. It is only when some say, “Hmmm… Do I know you from somewhere? Don’t you wear a nosering?” and some others say, “Wait… aren’t you the one who wore those bright floral skirts and then, dull sarees in Jersey?” she can boldly and happily look at their eyes, and say, “Hi, yes. This is Shraddha Srinath. I’m an actor.”