Shriya Sharma, the child artist-turned-female lead, in this exclusive interview to IndiaGlitz, talks about 'Nirmala Convent', her role in the movie, donning the role of a village girl, being part of a teenage love story, an anecdote about Chiranjeevi, and more.
On her role in 'Nirmala Convent':
I am playing a teenage girl named Shanthi. She is very relatable and is like any other girl. She is innocent. She initially shows arrogance and pride in her. She is jealous of Sam (Roshan), who is very good at studies. To this extent, I am not like her. In real life, I come first in everything, including studies.
I could relate to Shanthi a lot. She is over-dominating, but deep down, she is very sweet. Most girls are like that.
I keep visiting my relatives in HP villages. The nuances of village life have stayed with me. My character in this movie belongs to a very rich family. So, her manners are high-class.
On working with Roshan:
We were very comfortable with each other because we are of same age. He is not camera-shy at all.
The names very much suggest that caste is a factor in their love. But there are also other conflicts. He has earlier done 'Rudrama Devi'.
On Nagarjuna's character:
Nag sir is playing a very important character, which is there throughout the second half. It's going to be a big treat to all Akkineni fans. Although I have no scenes in combination with him, I am happy to have done a film in his banner.
I hope I will get an opportunity to work with Nag sir in future.
On working with biggies:
I have worked with the likes of SRK, Salman Khan, Ajay Devgan sir, Sunny Deol, Saif Ali Khan, Sunny Leone in Bollywood and Chiranjeevi garu ('Jai Chiranjeeva') and Nag sir down South. I am the only child artiste who has worked continuously for 15 years. Every year in some or the other way, I contributed to cinema at different levels. I feel it's my talent that has got me here. I don't have godfathers in the industry. From the age of three, I have been getting work on my merit. I am waiting for an opportunity where I can showcase my talent completely.
On her dream roles:
I have a lot of dream roles. For example, Kagna Ranaut's character in 'Queen', Asin's role in 'Ghajini' and such powerful or performance-oriented roles. I also want to do commercial cinema like 'Om Shanthi Om'. As for 'Nirmala Convent', I hope it will leave an impact like a 'DDLJ'.
With feminism and all, the trends are changing with respect to films as well. It's increasingly being seen that actresses are not just about glamour and that we can also act.
Acting is forever to her:
The level of excitement that I have for acting, I want to pursue acting forever.
I have been balancing studies and acting till now. I am doing second year law. Law is not a profession where you have to invest so much time. Compared to medicine or engineering, it's less hectic. Once my graduation is over, I want to continue acting.
There are many lawyers in our family. They are working with big firms. I love talking, moreover. There is so much to learn as it's a vast field.
On dancing & acting:
The knowledge of dancing is good. I always love it. Even before I started acting, I did dancing. All films have dances. I would really want to learn some proper dance forms.
The Chiranjeevi impact:
When I did 'Jai Chiranjeeva', I was 6 years old and Chiranjeevi garu was the first big legend I was working with. My grandma happened to visit the sets. Chiranjeevi garu stood up and offered his chair to grandma. Such a big legend doing such a humble act impacted me a lot. My parents would tell me many times after that incident that I have to learn great deal from him.
