I’d never give up my career in the South for Bollywood: Shraddha Das

Her debut film in Bollywood, Lahore, won a National Award and her next film, Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji, was by the National Award winning director, Madhur Bhandarkar. In spite of both the films faring well, actress Shraddha Das owes it all to her career in the South, especially Telugu films.

“I’m being honest when I say that all that I have in Mumbai is because of Telugu films. Hence, it would be inappropriate if I was ungrateful to the industry — one thing’s for sure, I’d never give up my career in the South for Bollywood,” confesses the young actor. She made her debut in 2008 in the Telugu film, Sidhu From Srikakulam.

“I wasn’t sure of the language and would make it a point to learn my lines by heart. That’s when I made up my mind to learn the language. I love my job and at the end of the day, as an actor, I need to be fluent in the language I’m acting in,” she quips.
Her next Telugu film, Rey, is quite a challenging project. “I play a Mexican-American popstar and need to look and behave accordingly. Of course, most of my films have seen me in pretty glamourous roles just that this was a very different character,” states Shraddha.

In her four years of acting, with as many as 16 films in the South, including a Kannada film, Hosa Prema Purana with newbie Nitin Gowda and Radhika Gandhi, she’s glad with the way things have shaped up. “I agree to have made a few mistakes but isn’t that a part of the learning process? In an age of ups and downs, my career graph has been quite stable. Irrespective of the fate of the films at the box office, my performances have been appreciated and I’ve signed films even before the previous ones have released,” she says, adding, “Till date, I’ve never needed to approach anyone for roles.”

Quiz her about her Bollywood innings and Shraddha says, “I need a film and a role that’s a notch higher than Lahore or Dil Toh… and none of the offers have been interesting enough.”