Shruti Haasan reflects on growing up in her father's shadow

Mumbai (The Uttam Hindu): Actress Shruti Haasan recently shared how during her early years, she would sometimes pretend to be someone else to avoid constant questions about her famous father Kamal Haasan. Seeking to carve out her own identity, the actress opened up about her desire to be seen beyond her father’s shadow and how she struggled with being associated with his towering legacy. In a recent interview, Haasan discussed growing up with her famous parents and the challenges she faced in coping with their immense stardom.

The Ramaiya Vastavaiya actress stated that while she is "very proud" of being the daughter of Sarika and Kamal Haasan, she was often irked as a child when people constantly asked her about her father. She was quoted saying, “People would constantly ask me about him, it was like all the time. I would feel like, I am Shruti, I want my own identity. People would point at me and say, ‘Hey, that’s Kamal’s daughter’. If anyone asked me, I would say, ‘No, my father is Dr Ramachandran’, it was our dentist’s name. ‘And I am Pooja Ramachandran’, a name I made up.”

Shruti also mentioned that she always knew her father was unlike anyone else she had encountered, and living in Chennai made it challenging for her to escape his widespread fame. “It’s not just that my dad is an actor or a famous person, I knew from childhood that he was different from anyone I met. I was brought up by two stubborn people and that rubbed off on me and my sister. I moved to Bombay when they separated. I never enjoyed being Shruti here (in Chennai). It’s difficult to separate from his fame when there are appa’s posters all over the place. Today, I don’t even want to imagine Shruti without Kamal Haasan,” the actress added.

For the unversed, Sarika and Kamal Haasan married in 1988. However, the couple separated in 2004 after filing for divorce in 2002. Their 16-year marriage ended when Shruti was still a teenager. Sarika and Kamal also has a younger daughter, Akshara Haasan. On the professional front, Shruti Haasan will next be seen in the upcoming films “Salaar Part 2” and Lokesh Kanagaraj’s “Coolie” with Rajnikanth.