Actor Shruti Sharma’s determination pays

Shruti Sharma risked a de-glam look for her debut film and now she’s happy with her decision

Shruti Sharma is on cloud nine. She has been getting accolades alongside Naveen Polishetty for her role as an assistant detective in Agent Sai Srinivasa Athreya . She knew she would wear a bespectacled look initially and later be herself in the story. The role wasn’t meant to make her look glamorous like a typical heroine but an understated one. Her confidence in certain scenes stood out. The youngster from Lucknow is all praise for the director Swaroop, and the hero Naveen.

She says, “Swaroop made the film entertaining and thrilling as well, he knows the pulse of his audience. I have scenes throughout the story and Naveen is like a guru yet we share a Tom and Jerry kind of relationship. If you belong to a small city, it isn’t easy to achieve your dream. People take you lightly and one has to put in great effort to win the confidence and trust of the people.”

Speaking about the how she decided to do the role in

Agent Sai... , and what she liked particularly about the plot, Shruti says, “There were many offers from production houses but I found this story line interesting. I decided to be a part of this project. I was told I would be playing a role of assistant detective and because there is no good detective institute in Nellore I would go to Athreya who’s my college senior. Naveen is a monologue expert and has a great sense of humour. I am alien to the language yet when I would rehearse with them, I used to enjoy all the punches; When the script sounded so interesting, I was sure Swaroop would take it to the next level.”

Shruti went through auditions, workshops, different rounds in competitions to be where she is today. She was selected and then did many rehearsals. In the process she was offered many television programmes and she chose this. She was clear from the beginning about not wanting to be categorised. So she did reality shows, music album, a Telugu film and now the TV serial Gathbandhan . Very soon she will be taking up a Bollywood film and wants to explore Punjabi and Bengali movies too.

A decision by Shruti to become an actor wasn’t met with acceptance by her family though. Because of her father’s objection, Shruti changed her career preferences and took up arts and learnt Bharatanatyam for two years. She adds, “I wrote plays and directed them and people loved it. My father knew I meant business and he gave his consent to go to Mumbai. Director Swaroop saw her Charlie Chaplin act in one of her shows and selected her, she informs.