Shruti Haasan: My vulnerabilities my strength, not weakness

For long, women have been told to internalise their vulnerabilities, and on International Women’s Day, actor Shruti Haasan is urging people to change this attitude.

That’s because she has also spent a lot of time to change that about herself throughout her life and career. “I don’t know if it is a female thing or a human thing, when we are vulnerable, we project and we wear an armour of humour or projected strength. But you have to wake up and feel stronger than appear stronger than your feeling,” Shruti tells us.

It took her 30 years to realise the difference. “I used to feel like, ‘let my vulnerability show through my music or my writing, nobody really needs to know and understand it’. I did that for a very long time. I know a lot of people who keep doing that,” says the daughter of actor Kamal Haasan, stressing on the need for women to get over that thought.

Opening up about her journey form moving on from the thought, she shares, “Around the time when I was 30, I realised that I can’t actually carry this on anymore, that I have to break down and start the construction from scratch, which is when I stepped away and took a break”.

The 36-year-old used the time to “articulate her life”, and puts, “Now, I do feel that vulnerability is my strength. It’s not a weakness as it connects you to the human experience that other people are having”.

Since then, she has been on a journey of learning, growing and making mistakes. “

“When I first started out, I wasn’t very well versed in dealing with people. I still think I am not very smart about it. But I am learning to be true and honest to who I am, and what I’m doing,” says Shruti, who has also made a name for herself as a singer.

She adds, “I try to be honest about my communication. And be authentic, which is a very misused and overused word. But not try to be authentic just for the sake of it, so that you can show it on Instagram”.

Today, she hopes this authenticity reflects in her work, music and at every step of her life. “It is difficult because we live with intellectual vanity at so many levels. But I have been working on it for years, and will continue to work on it because you have to stay true to the changes in your life as well,” concludes the actor, who is busy with a web series and Salaar at the moment.