Shrutika Arjun: 'I don't want to act in films'
The power of choice is the most determining factor in a person's life. For Shrutika Arjun, the granddaughter of the iconic actor Thengai Srinivasan, everything in her life has come down to the choices she made. It was her choice to act, her choice to quit, and her choice to return to the limelight. Shrutika made her film debut alongside Suriya in Sri (2002) while still in school. In a conversation with CE, the actor reminisces about her initial acting days, her comeback that led her to the sets of Cook With Comali and Bigg Boss Hindi Season 18, and her entrepreneurial ventures.
Excerpts:
Shrutika, although you come from a film family, starting out when still in school must have been an overwhelming experience.
I was just 15 when I started. I didn't have the training, and I was conscious of the camera. In fact, there was a generation after my grandfather that did not venture into films. In fact, my mother was completely against my decision to venture into acting.
How did Sri (2002) happen then?
It wasn't my interest in acting that made me say yes. It was my interest in Suriya. I saw it as an opportunity to act alongside a good-looking actor. It was an exciting endeavour. During the shooting, Suriya used to look after me with a lot of sensitivity because he understood that I was a school student. He used to help me with the process of shooting, and he used to console me when I got scolded for making mistakes.
You had quite a good start, but why did you decide to quit?
I had signed on to do three films after Sri (2002). But my mother was still against it. However, my dad asked her not to jump the gun. Instead, he asked her not to teach me anything about the performing arts, the makeup, etc... As a result, I used to make mistakes and get scolded on sets. So, instead of forcing me out of it, and making cinema feel like a forbidden fruit, his little experiment made me lose interest in cinema on my own. I quit due to the exposure and fading interest. And I quit without harbouring any kind of regrets.
What did you do after quitting cinema?
I did very well in my studies. I completed my BSc, and then I went on to complete my MBA in marketing and HR. I was also working as a lecturer for PG students, as I loved to teach.
I was just 22 when I got married to Arjun and became a mother at 24. My life revolved around my family.
What prompted your return to the limelight?
After I got married, I used to travel a lot with my family. During the COVID-19 lockdown, some pictures from my European trip went viral! I guess there was a dearth of content, because some meme pages picked those pictures up and posted them along with a photo from Sri (2002), with a caption that said, "Guess who this actor is?" Only then did I get calls from YouTube channels that wanted to interview me. After those interviews, I got to do Cooku With Comali.
Honestly, I was asked to be a contestant in Season 2 itself, but I was hesitant. Arjun supported me, and despite my lack of cooking abilities, his encouragement helped me learn the culinary arts.
From there... we suddenly saw you in Bigg Boss Hindi?
I never thought a Bigg Boss stint would be on the cards because I had never lived away from my family for too long. I joined only because of Salman Khan. I have a lot of respect for him, and I look up to him a lot. After consulting with my husband, I called the production house and expressed my interest.
Cooku with Comali, Bigg Boss Hindi... what next? Films?
Honestly, when I was part of Cooku With Comali, I genuinely felt a return to cinema was on the cards. But every time I would give it a more serious thought, somewhere, something would stop me. So yeah, I don't want to act in films, simply because you should either be good at something, or be interested to learn to get better, and I am just not inclined to do it.