It was a moment to savour for Shraddha Srinath when she won Best Actress prize for her role in the Kannada film U-Turn at the Filmfare South Awards recently. In the movie, directed by Pawan Kumar, she played Rachana, an intern working in a newspaper office. For this suspense thriller, Srinath had a gamut of emotions to go through and she executed them with a spontaneity that is seldom seen in new actors.
U-Turn was her Kannada debut film and her second after the Malayalam film Kohinoor.
Srinath traced her dream, of wanting to be an actress, to the late 1990s, when she grew up watching Bollywood movies such as Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.
She found an outlet performing in theatre during her college days. And with U-Turn, life has certainly taken a different turn for this former corporate lawyer. After a cameo in Maniratnam’s Kaatru Veliyidai this year, Srinath is gearing up for Ivan Thanthiran, her first solo lead in Tamil cinema, directed by R. Kannan and releasing on June 30. In the film, Srinath plays Asha, an engineering student. She is paired opposite Gautham Karthik.
“Asha is a bold and smart young woman who has worked hard to reach this place and she does not take it for granted,” said Srinath. “Ivan Thanthiran is about today’s education system and how it is being exploited.”
Next, the actress is up for another Tamil film, Vikram Vedha, directed by Pushkar and Gayatri. Srinath is paired opposite Maddy.
Another interesting role she is looking forward to is in Richie, a Nivin Pauly Tamil film, where she plays Megha, a crime reporter. While two Telugu films are keeping her busy, Srinath looks forward to the release of her second Kannada film, Operation Alamelamma.
Ivan Thanthiran, produced by R. Kannan and M.K. Ramprasad, releases on June 30.
The supporting cast includes R.J. Balaji, Bharath Reddy and Stunts Silva. S.S. Thaman has composed music. Prasanna Kumar is the cinematographer.
