Bangalore, May 21 (IANS) Actress Shraddha Srinath, who recently completed 10 years in the film industry, has now penned a heartfelt post recalling the day her debut film released.
Taking to her Instagram page to pen a lengthy post, she wrote, “It’s been a decade since I made my debut and I remember it like it was yesterday. It’s so funny when you think of a milestone event in the future and you think “oh there’s plenty of time for that”. It really is funny because the next thing you know, you’ve been a movie actor for 10 years when you thought you wouldn’t last six months.”
She went on to say, “19.05.2016. It was the Indian premiere of ‘U Turn’. I say Indian premiere because we’d already premiered at NYIFF (what a flex). Bhumika theatre was teeming with Pawan Kumar fans, cinephiles eager to be the first ones to watch U Turn. I remember being totally unprepared for the premiere, thinking I’ll just wear something casual and go. @sruthi_hariharan22 was mortified when she heard this and insisted I wear something nice. She gave me her own designer outfit to wear for the premiere.”
Shraddha recalled that on the day of the film’s release she went to a newspaper office, a radio station and a dance show.
“I remember sitting in a caravan while waiting for the reality show guys to call us, glued to my phone, reading ALLLLL the reviews that were being written. They were consistently encouraging, but ONE fellow made a video review and trashed the movie but more importantly MY performance and that’s it, I had already begun packing my bags up and distributing my resumé. People will hate me, what was I thinking, what an embarrassment, you look nothing like the actresses you watched growing up. So cute. It’s been 10 years since I’ve read good things and bad but the one thing I’ve learnt is that you pack your bags when YOU want,” she said.
“I’m grateful for my ridiculously loving, hyper enthusiastic family who blindly thinks I’m the best actress in the world, my friends who ground me, my fan clubs and fans who have shown me so much love and continue to do so, @pawankumarfilms , @vidhyaabreddy , my producers, all my directors, my cinematographers to whom I’m constantly throwing questions about the camera, the music composers who’ve given me some god awesome hit songs, @kohl.play, @shivaraj_hairstylist , @shivu.bm.549 , EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON I’ve worked with, interviewed with, the person in the last slide who taught me that not everyone can be kept happy, my genes, retinol and strength training. Just bloody grateful today. Bouquets and brickbats – they adorn my crown,” she wrote.
The actress said that she was going through her photos from 10 years ago and saw so many photos of her friends and cousins and aunts and uncles – everyone posing with the poster of U Turn.
“Two of my friends who are now married went to watch it on their first date. Photos of ticket stubs from a friend watching it in a multiplex in Delhi. Posters of U turn with list of Indian cities and other COUNTRIES that it would release in. Reviews. Screenshots. Photos of newspaper articles. I cried yesterday. SO MANY people showed up for me and with so much pride. I have been the luckiest girl to have received that kind of support from all quarters. Some people stayed through out, some people left and some people came in much later but the support and cheer never once dimmed down,” she said.
She concluded the note saying, “For some people I meet, I’m still Rachana from ‘U Turn’. It’s been such an interesting challenge to navigate this industry the past 10 years especially in this age of social media when everyone’s life is out there for you to compare with and very few achievements feel laudable. But I’m grateful for the clarity (or even the lack of it sometimes) and the integrity I have to choose work that I bring value to and the deep privilege I come from to be able to say no to work that doesn’t align with me. To know when to hold on and when to let go. To take my job seriously enough to do the best I can to do justice to the opportunities I get, knowing that there are scores of actors out there who would kill to get a shot at this, but not so seriously that it dictates my life and being. To know that my journey is uniquely mine.”
–IANS
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