WORDS: TUSHAR A AMIN
PHOTOGRAPHS: GAURAV BHAT
STYLING: BINAL SHAH
MAKE-UP AND HAIR: VIPUL
Singer,song-writer, actress, true blue rockstar... this uber-cool girl refuses to be pinned down and tagged. Shruti rejects all labels as she searches for her own identity, explores herself through her art and fine-tunes her true inner voice. Here’s looking at the kaleidoscope that is this dazzlingly beautiful and razor-sharp intelligent child-woman...
Will the real Shruti Haasan please stand up…
You mean, who am I as a person…? Who am I as an artist…? I mean, it’s so different…
Do you find yourself asking these questions to yourself, every once in a while?
I question myself everyday. It’s not just once in a while. I’m not at all afraid to ask myself questions, even the ones that are scary… Of course, sometimes I ignore them if they are too scary (laughs)… If you want to live your life as a certain kind of artist or a certain kind of woman or a certain kind of person, you have to understand that every action has certain repercussions. And if you’ve never asked yourself certain questions, there’s never gonna be a way for you to face the world when they ask you those questions. So, I deal with my life that way. There are times people may not agree with my actions or choices, but it doesn’t bother me because I’ve answered myself
as to why I am where I am and what I am doing.
You’ve been through pretty severe ups and downs on the domestic front. How did that affect you?
You are a product of your environment. At the end of the day, I am shaped by my parents, the school I went to, the friends I made in those years who are still my best friends… I’ve been very, very blessed in that sense. That has some good things and some bad things. It is only when you learn to take in the good and the bad and still have that enthusiasm about something then no matter how many times you get knocked down, you will get back up, and fast.
Does this maturity prevent you from having unbridled fun?
You know, I don’t think I’m an old soul. I’m a paradox. I’m a kaleidoscope. Sometimes I look at myself and I think I am a particular way, but I’m not. I’ve allowed myself
the freedom to be whatever I want, whenever I want. There are times when I do something, then I look back and say, “That was really stupid!” but then again, I tell myself, “But I wanted to do it then…!”
Catch the complete interview in the September 2009 issue of FHM India