My Life My Rules

Shruti Haasan converses with Devesh Sharma about career, crushes, music and more...

- Devesh Sharma

There’s a specially designed wall in her living room showcasing covers from the golden age of comics. Her favourite Batman is missing because the covers are all dark. Though black is her favourite colour. So is pink. The room is cluttered with bric bacs bought from all over the world. There’s a piano and two guitars gracing another portion. They are her favourite possessions. Shruti Haasan is a professional singer and musician and opted to act just by chance. “I wanted to have a whole sleeve full of tattoos when I was in LA pursuing music,” she tells me. “Thank God I didn’t do that!” Being daughter of actors Sarika and Kamal Haasan, she knows the difference between stardom and excellence and understands on which to hitch her wagon. Excerpts from a freewheeling interview...

What made you do a film like Behen Hogi Teri?

The concept was interesting. Tell me one guy who’ll look at a girl and says how beautiful, kash woh meri behen hoti! And that’s the crux of the film.

Do you agree we need to give more breathing space to our youngsters?

Yes! Even today, when a girl just talks to a guy people assume something is on between them. We in urban metros tend to put these things behind us. But we aren’t the majority. These attitudes still exist in small towns, in villages. Instead of people exploring their own relationships, it’s defined by their neighbours, their parents, their teachers. You should just let people be. I’m not denying that the fears of the parents are unfounded. But for instance in the North, girls are asked to actually tie rakhis to boys. How healthy is that?

Have you tied a rakhi to a guy ever?

I did tie rakhis to boys at school as they wanted us to explore festivals from different parts of India.