With RRR’s ‘Naatu Naatu’ bagging an Oscar and the entire cast and crew rejoicing in its victory, one of its actors is already gearing up for her next pan-Indian outing. Shriya Saran, who appeared in a cameo in RRR that came out in March 2022, will be seen in this week’s Kannada film, Kabzaa. Ask her about being a part of a slew of such big-budget films and an excited Shriya says, “It feels great because that’s the need of the hour. These films see the various film industries coming together to become Indian films now. We’re also a country where our currency is printed with 17 languages on them, so our cinema too should be celebrated as one.” Languages are no more a barrier, quips Shriya. “It’s the content that matters and a film with a good story works. ”
It’s that content that made her sign up for Kabzaa, also starring Upendra, Shiva Rajkumar and Kiccha Sudeepa. “Director Chandru desired to make a film on a huge scale that will be larger than life in all aspects. He’s a compassionate filmmaker in terms of knowing how comfortable the actors are. He had a small teaser with Upendra sir who is someone I always wanted to work with and that was good enough to be sold,” says Shriya who plays a strong woman with a ‘lot of heart’. “She comes from royalty and her character starts in the 60s and it leads to the 80s. The way her character is shown and shot is beautiful. The character grows, evolves and matures, which is very interesting for an actor because it gives you a lot more to work on.”
A still from ‘Kabzaa’ | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
As an actor who has worked in all South Indian languages as well as in Hindi and English, Shriya believes that languages aren’t a barrier anymore. “The director is the captain of the ship and the whole environment of the film is how the director feels and believes. It really doesn’t matter what the language of the film is but who the director is. The whole idea of making a film for the Indian audience is not because of the language but due to its subject. The more rooted the story is, the more universal it is. The more local the plot is, the more global it can get. Cinema is not just about escapism but it’s about realistic escapism.”
In a recent interview, Shriya said that though she might not react in a similar way to what her character does in certain situations, she wants to understand why her character reacts that way. “I try to create a story behind that character, like about her parents, how she is, how she grew up, how her life was and so on. I write a little about her history and slowly from there, the character builds and leads you to where you want to be,” says Shriya, who believes that the way women characters are written is also changing with the pan-India storytelling. “It’s not a male-dominated or female-dominated but a story-dominated film industry. It’s a gradual change and they have started writing stories for women of all ages. I think people have also matured from just watching love stories between college students to love stories between mature adults. The bigger change will only happen when there are more women behind the camera than in front. We need more women directors and producers.”
A still from ‘Kabzaa’ | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Speaking about producers, Shriya points out that many of them are up for experimenting with films now. “I don’t think the dearth of women-fronted films is because we lacked good writers; we’ve always had good ones. I think it’s because the producers, who decide on the type of scripts to put their money on, are now happier to experiment,” says Shriya, who adds that the industry also has to change based on the consumer’s newly-acquired tastes. “Due to OTT platforms, people are exposed to a different kind of cinema and they don’t want the same old stories. The audiences are watching shows from Istanbul and Korea just like how they consume Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada or Telugu films. And the best part is, you don’t have to pirate those films; you can watch them legally. I personally love the amount of content that’s available across platforms. People are more exposed to cinema as an art form than ever before.”
