Shruti (actress)

Girija (born 18 September 1975),^[1][2] known by her screen name Shruti, is an Indian actress, television personality and politician. As an actress, she is known for her work in Kannada cinema and has appeared in over 100 films. She is currently serving as chief secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party's women's wing in its Karnataka cadre.

In addition to Kannada, Shruti has appeared in a handful Tamil and Malayalam films. She was among the leading actresses in Kannada cinema during the 1990s and has won three Karnataka State Film Awards and four Filmfare Awards South in her career spanning over 25 years. She is known for performance in films such as Gauri Ganesha (1991), Aagatha (1995), Kalki (1996), Gowdru (2004), Akka Thangi (2008) and Puttakkana Highway (2011). She is sister of actor Sharan. In 2016, she won the third season of the reality television show Bigg Boss Kannada.^[3]

Shruti joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2008. She was made the chairperson of the Karnataka Women and Child Development Corporation before being removed in 2009. In 2013, she joined the Karnataka Janata Paksha which eventually merged in 2014 with the BJP.^[4]

Early life

Born in a Kannada speaking family in Karnataka, Shruti's birth name is Girija. She was rechristened as Shruti by the famous actor-director Dwarakish who introduced her as a leading star for his 1990 film Shruthi.

Career

Shruthi was in Puttur in her early ages of life. Shruti started her cinema career as a supporting actress and acted in Kannada movie Aasegobba Meesegobba as Shivarajkumar's sister. Later in the year 1990, she acted as heroine in the movie Shruthi directed and produced by Dwarakish. This movie was a successful one running over 25 weeks. Some of the most famous and successful Kannada movies from Shruti are, Shruti, Taayi Illada Tavaru, Veerappa Nayaka, Gauri Ganesha, Bombat Hendthi (Karnataka State award Winner), Muddina Maava, Midida Hrudayagalu. Soon after these films, Shruti was stereotyped for tear jerking roles in many Kannada films. She won her first Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actress for the movie Aagatha (1995) directed by Suresh Heblikar.

In her career spanning for more than two decades, she acted with all the leading male stars in the film industry of her times like Vishnuvardhan, Ambareesh, Shiva Rajkumar, Shashikumar, Ramesh Aravind, Jaggesh, Devaraj, Sunil, Abhijeeth, Ram Kumar and others.

Her Tamil film Kalki (1996) directed by the ace director K. Balachander won her the Filmfare Award and also the Tamil Nadu State Award for Best Actress.

Shruti made her small screen debut in the Malayalam serial "Sthreethvam" aired on Surya TV during 2005. Also, her Tamil daily serial, Karthigai Pengal aired on Sun TV from July 2012.

Shruti was a contestant in the reality television show Bigg Boss Kannada 3, winning the season, in January 2016.^[5] In 2017, she appeared as a judge in the comedy television series Majaa Bharatha.^[6]

Personal life

Shruti was married to film director S. Mahendar for 11 years and divorced in 2009.^[7] Post her divorce, she was romantically linked with Chakravarthy Chandrachud, a journalist-turned-director and they married in June 2013 before the marriage ended in a divorce an year later.^[8]

Filmography

Television

References

External links

• Shruti on IMDb
• Sruthi at MSI