Shruti Hassan: Working on craft more important than finding space in B’wood

By Arundhuti Banerjee

Mumbai, March 6 Actress and singer-songwriter Shruti Hassan, who recently appeared in the short film “Devi” alongside Kajol and Neha Dhupia among other actresses, says as an artiste she does not differentiate between Bollywood and the South Indian entertainment industry, adding that carving a space for herself in Hindi films is certainly not her drive as an artiste.

“Working on my craft is more important than finding space in Bollywood. I am an artiste and I have been working in the entertainment industry for the last 10 years. I am happy working in any Indian film irrespective of its language. I do not know why people think that South Indian films are less important than Bollywood? Art is art, a good story or music is good. Why discriminate or differentiate? I hope it is not misinterpreted,” Shruti told IANS.

Daughter of celebrated actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan and actress Sarika, Shruti started her career as a child artiste. She appeared in “Hey Ram” and lent her voice for the title song of the film. In the south she has been a part of successful films such as “Unnaipol Oruvan”, “7aum Arivu”, “Anaganaga O Dheerudu”, “3”, and “Balupu”.

Despite recording songs as a playback singer in “Luck” (“Luck aazma”), “D-Day” (“Alvida”), and “Tevar” (“Jogania”), apart from several South Indian films, Shruti has mostly focused in independent music.

Why doesn”t she explore opportunities as a Bollywood playback singer? “Bollywood is a very different industry, especially in music. In playback singing, it all depends on the subject of the film — a certain kind of voice (is required). In South I have collaborated more and I am also doing collaborative work in the independent music scene. I love writing my own song. I write songs in the English language, so I am doing music mostly in the UK.”

“From the beginning of my career, I never thought that unless I make my mark in Bollywood, it is nothing. As a singer whether I am singing in a South Indian film or in a Hindi film, I feel equally happy because I am singing!” Shruti signed off.

(Arundhuti Banerjee can be contacted at arundhuti.b@ians.in)