No doubt, the success of Sivaji... and her newfound status as a hot and sensational property in the South has made Shriya confident today. “Sivaji was Rajni’s film, but being a great man, he let me shine in it. Working with him, I learned to set myself a benchmark. Though I often ask myself — where now from here,” the actress admits. Where now, is for Bollywood to tell the talented Southern star.
Riding on Sivaji’s success, she’s bagged several projects, including some from Hollywood. In Bollywood, besides her debut film Awarapan, Shriya’s in Sangeeth Sivan’s Ek. “Films were incidental. I call it an arranged marriage. I fell in love with films after I got into the business. I was grooming to be a Kathak dancer when I landed in a music video. That’s how it began,” she says. On the Hollywood front, Shriya has wrapped up Ashok Amritraj’s The Other End of the Line opposite Canadian actor Jesse Metcalfe. And how has Deepa Mehta’s What’s Cooking to look forward to.
Now that she is in Bollywood, Shriya’s big ambition is to star opposite Amitabh Bachchan. She revealed, “I met him as a fan when I was about 11 and took his autograph. He was shooting in Udaipur for Khuda Gawah. Recently, I met him at an award function in Bangkok and told him that. He was amused. I told Mr Bachchan, ‘I want to work with you.’ And he replied, ‘I’m looking forward to it!’” But she doesn’t really have any favourites in Bollywood. “I am greedy. I want to work with everyone,” Shriya admits candidly.
