Shruti Haasan

I don’t have daddy or mommy helping me, I pay my own bills, so I have no choice but to get back to work when it resumes

Actor Shruti Haasan says just like anyone else, she also has financial constraints, so she has to continue working, however, she adds that she would be very particular about the working environment on the set when she joins back work.

Ican’t hide out and wait for the pandemic to end,” says actor Shruti Haasan, admitting that it’s tough to shoot amid a health scare, yet important to do so once things restart after the ongoing lockdown.

“Being on set without a mask is very scary. I’m not going to lie. But we’ve to get back to work because I have financial constraints, just like anybody else,” notes Haasan, adding, “When they’re ready to shoot, I’ve to go out there as I also have shoots to complete and other professional commitments that I need to finish.”

Here, Haasan, who has also shown off her musical talent along with acting prowess, asserts, “We make different amounts of money, but we all have bills to pay, and that is why I’ll have to get back to work”.

Calling herself an “independent woman who pays her own bills”, the daughter of actor-politician Kamal Haasan shares, “I have my limitations. I don’t have my daddy or mommy helping me”.

And she’s very proud of the life she has built over the past 11 years, ever since she moved out of her father’s place.

“I’ve made every decision — good or bad, for myself by myself. There were some really smart people who didn’t buy any big things like a car or a house before the pandemic, but I bought a house just before this all started, and I was like, ‘God damn it’. So, yes I have basic financial constraints,” confesses the 35-yearold.

In fact, these limitations make her realise her privileges. “It has made me very thankful for the fact that ‘Oh, I’m just trying to pay my EMI’, when I know that there are people who don’t have food, and don’t have money for medicine. It just puts everything in perspective,” says the actor.

Before the shutdown, Haasan was working on a web series and her upcoming film, Salaar. The current situation reminds her of 2020, when the shoot of her film, Krack was stalled mid-way and could only be completed when the lockdown was lifted. The film released in January this year.

“Last year, we didn’t understand what was going on, it was a very indefinite long amount of time,” she says hoping for things to get better soon, bringing projects back on track. And once work resumes, the actor says she’ll be cautious on the set, and be “verbal about it if it isn’t a safe working environment. Because this virus has taught us something which we should have learned 100 year ago… that individual behaviour does affect the collective,” the actor shares.

Till then, she’s spending time at home, following all the guidelines. “It’s not like we have a choice, and we shouldn’t even have one. We should be staying at home,” she ends with a message for all.