Shruti Sharma: Heading to Bollywood, one movie at a time

Shruti Sharma

From crunching numbers for banking course to facing the camera, Shruti Sharma's career has indeed taken an interesting turn. The actor, who made her debut on television with India's Next Superstars, soon snapped up interesting projects in Gathbandhan and Namak Issk Ka. Now, she is making her Bollywood debut with Sanya Malhotra-starrer Pagglait. "I was wrapping up Gathbandhan when I received an audition call," says the actor, who plays Malhotra's friend in the Umesh Bist-directed comedy.

Graduating to movies doesn't imply that Sharma will bid goodbye to telly projects. Happy to have made her mark in television, she says, "I have never faced the prejudice of being a television actor. When I was in talks for Pagglait, Umesh sir told me to keep it realistic and not resort to over-the-top acting. I am glad that during the entire shoot, he didn't tell me once that I was going overboard." Ask her about her first brush with Hindi films, and she gushes about the cast and crew. "Working with stellar actors like Ashutosh Rana and Raghubir Yadav was a learning experience. [When I'd get nervous] that I wasn't doing more than one take for any scene, Sanya would tell me that if the director likes your work, one take is enough."

Sanya Malhotra and Shruti Sharma in Pagglait

The past three years have been challenging but a creatively fulfilling journey for the actor. She reveals that initially, her parents were apprehensive when she expressed her desire to work in showbiz. "Close relatives had warned my parents that it is a dangerous world. Before I came to Mumbai, my dad told me, ‘The industry is just like you. There is both good and bad. How you make your path depends on your choice.'"