Girija (born 18 September 1975), known by her screen name Shruti, is an Indian actress, television personality and politician. As an actress, she predominantly appears in

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

film industry. She is currently serving as chief secretary of

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

's women's wing in its

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

cadre. In addition to Kannada, Shruti has appeared in a handful of Telugu,

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

and

Malayalam films Malayalam cinema is an Indian film industry of Malayalam-language motion pictures. It is based in Kochi, Kerala, India. The films produced in Malayalam cinema are known for their cinematography and story-driven plots. In 1982, ''Elippathayam' ...

. She was among the leading actresses in Kannada cinema during the 1990s and has won three Karnataka State Film Awards and four

Filmfare Awards South Filmfare Awards South is the South Indian segment of the annual Filmfare Awards, presented by the Filmfare magazine of The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Indian film industry encompassing ...

in her career spanning over 25 years. She is known for performance in films such as ''

Gauri Ganesha ''Gauri Ganesha'' is a 1991 Kannada-language comedy drama film directed by Phani Ramachandra. It stars Anant Nag, Vinaya Prasad, Master Anand, Mukhyamantri Chandru, Vaishali Kasaravalli, Ramesh Bhat among others. Anant Nag received Best Acto ...

'' (1991), '' Aagatha'' (1995), ''

Kalki Kalki ( sa, कल्कि), also called Kalkin or Karki, is the prophesied tenth and final incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu. He is described to appear in order to end the Kali Yuga, one of the four periods in the endless cycle of exist ...

'' (1996), '' Gowdru'' (2004), ''

Akka Thangi ''Akka Thangi'' ( kn, ಅಕ್ಕ ತಂಗಿ) () is a 2008 Indian Kannada language film written and directed by S. Mahendar. It stars Shruti and Rashmi in the lead roles. The supporting cast features Mohan, Kishore and Sharan. Cast * Sh ...

'' (2008) and ''

Puttakkana Highway ''Puttakkana Highway'' ( kn, ಪುಟ್ಟಕ್ಕನ ಹೈವೇ) is a 2011 Indian Kannada drama film starring Shruti and Prakash Raj in the lead roles. The film was directed by B. Suresha. Prakash Rai and Shylaja Nag jointly produced this ...

'' (2011). She is sister of actor Sharan. In 2016, she won the third season of the reality television show Bigg Boss Kannada. Shruti joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2008. She was made the chairperson of the Karnataka Women and Child Development Corporation before being removed in 2009. In 2013, she joined the

Karnataka Janata Paksha Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP) was an Indian political party based in Karnataka state. It was founded in 2012 and disestablished in 2014, merging with the Bharatiya Janta Party. It was headed by Karnataka Chief minister B. S. Yeddyurappa. Yedd ...

which eventually merged in 2014 with the BJP.

Early life

Born in a

speaking family in

, Shruti's birth name is Girija. She was credited as Priyadarshini in her first Kannada movie ''

Aasegobba Meesegobba ''Aasegobba Meesegobba'' () is a 1990 Indian Kannada-language comedy film, directed by M. S. Rajashekar. The film stars Shiva Rajkumar, Lokesh and Sudha Rani, whilst Raghavendra Rajkumar appears in a cameo. Ambareesh and K. S. Ashwath are in ...

''. She was named Shruti by the actor-director

Dwarakish Bungle Shama Rao Dwarakanath (born 19 August 1942), better known as Dwarakish ( ), is an Indian actor, director and producer in the Kannada film industry. He was given the name Dwarakish by Kannada film maker C. V. Shivashankar. Early life D ...

who introduced her in a leading role for his film '' Shruthi'' in 1990.

Career

Shruthi was in Puttur in her early ages of life. Shruti started her cinema career in

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

film Swantham ennu karuthi. Kannada movie ''

'' as

Shivarajkumar Nagaraju Shiva Puttaswamy (born 12 July 1962) known by his screen name Shiva Rajkumar, is an Indian actor, producer and television presenter, predominantly works in Kannada cinema.

's sister role. Later in the year 1990, she acted as heroine in the movie '' Shruthi'' directed and produced by

. This movie was a successful one running over 25 weeks. Some of the most famous and successful Kannada movies from Shruti are, ''Shruti'', ''Taayi Illada Tavaru'', ''Veerappa Nayaka'', ''

'', ''Bombat Hendthi'', '' Muddina Maava'', ‘’Mr. Mahesh Kumar’’, '' Midida Hrudayagalu''. Soon after these films, Shruti was stereotyped for tear jerking roles in many Kannada films. She won her first

Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actress The Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actress is a state film award of the Indian state of Karnataka given during the annual Karnataka State Film Awards. The award honours Kannada language film actresses. Since its inception, the award was wo ...

for the movie '' Aagatha'' (1995) directed by

Suresh Heblikar Suresh Heblikar ( kn, ಸುರೇಶ ಹೆಬ್ಳೀಕರ) is a Kannada filmmaker, director and actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional med ...

. In her career spanning for more than two decades, she acted with all the leading male stars in the film industry of her times like Vishnuvardhan,

Ambareesh Malavalli Huchchegowda Amarnath (29 May 1952 – 24 November 2018), known by his screen name Ambareesh, was an Indian actor, media personality, politician from the state of Karnataka. Alongside Rajkumar and Vishnuvardhan, he is counted in ...

Tiger Prabhakar Tiger Prabhakar (30 March 1948 – 25 March 2001), also known as Kannada Prabhakar, was an Indian actor known for his works predominantly in Kannada and Telugu cinema, with a few Malayalam, Tamil and Bollywood films. Career Prabhakar started hi ...

Shiva Rajkumar Nagaraju Shiva Puttaswamy (born 12 July 1962) known by his screen name Shiva Rajkumar, is an Indian actor, producer and television presenter, predominantly works in Kannada cinema.

Shashikumar Shashi Kumar (born 2 December 1965) is an actor and politician from Karnataka. He works predominantly in Kannada films. Acting career Shashi Kumar's first released film was ''Chiranjeevi Sudhakara'' starring Raghavendra Rajkumar. In 1989 h ...

Ramesh Aravind Ramesh Aravind is an Indian actor, director, screenwriter and television presenter who predominantly works in Kannada films and television. In a career of over 34 years, Aravind has been appeared in over 140 films including several Tamil and T ...

, Jaggesh,

Devaraj Devaraj (born 20 September 1953) is an Indian actor and theatre actor who works in Indian film industry. He has largely featured in Kannada films performing various roles as a lead character, supporting character and villainous character. He ha ...

, Sunil,

Abhijeeth Abhijith (born 30 July 1963) is an Indian actor, singer, producer and director working in Kannada films. Starting his career as an actor in the late 1980s, he went on to act in many films through the 1990s and 2000s. He mainly played lead rol ...

, Ram Kumar and others. In Telugu, most of her films are with the famous comedy hero Rajendra Prasad. She made her debut in Telugu withe movie

Parugo Parugu ''Parugo Parugu'' () is a 1994 Indian Telugu language, Telugu-language comedy film, produced by Sudhakar (actor), Sudhakar under the Satyadev Movie Makers banner and directed by Relangi Narasimha Rao. It stars Rajendra Prasad (actor), Rajendra P ...

against Rajendra Prasad. Her Tamil film ''

'' (1996) directed by the ace director

K. Balachander Kailasam Balachander (9 July 1930 – 23 December 2014) was an Indian film maker and playwright who worked mainly in the Tamil cinema. He was well known for his distinct film-making style, and the Indian film industry knew him as a master of un ...

won her the Filmfare Award and also the Tamil Nadu State Award for Best Actress. ''

Navashakthi Vaibhava ''Navashakthi Vaibhava'' is a 2008 Indian Kannada-language drama film written by J K Bharavi and Chindodi Bangaresh and directed by Om Sai Prakash. It features Ramkumar and Shruti in the lead roles. The supporting cast includes Jayamala, ...

'' (2008) was Shruti's 100th film when she began filming in 2003. The film however saw theatrical release five years later. '' Gowdru'' turned out to be her 100th film, in which she played the sister of Ramegowda (played by

). Shruti made her small screen debut in the Malayalam serial ''Sthreethvam'' aired on Surya TV during 2005. Also, her Tamil daily serial, ''Karthigai Pengal'' aired on Sun TV from July 2012. Shruti was a contestant in the reality television show Bigg Boss Kannada 3, winning the season, in January 2016. In 2017, she appeared as a judge in the comedy television series ''Majaa Bharatha''.

Personal life

Shruti was married to film director

S. Mahendar S. Mahendar is an Indian film director working in Kannada cinema. He is also a politician with the BJP contesting from Kollegal constituency in Karnataka. He debuted into cinema with ''Pranayada Pakshigalu'' (1992) and went to direct for over ...

for 11 years and divorced in 2009. Post her divorce, she was linked with

Chakravarthy Chandrachud Chakravarthy Chandrachud (DJ) is a revolutionary journalist, well known poet, progressive thinker, social activist, actor, writer, director and debater from Karnataka. Personal background and education Chakravarthy Chandrachud was born on 15 Au ...

, a journalist-turned-director and they married in June 2013 before the marriage ended in a divorce a year later.

Filmography

Television

TV serials

* 2005 :''Sthreetvam'' ( Surya TV) -

* 2012-2013: ''

Karthigai Pengal Karthigai Pengal is an Indian Tamil-language soap opera that aired on Sun TV from 30 July 2012 to 23 August 2013> It aired Monday through Friday for 266 episodes. It portrays the story of a woman who braves many problems in life, but always wo ...

'' ( Sun TV) -

Television shows

* '' Bigg Boss Kannada 3'' (2016) * ''

Majaa Talkies ''Majaa Talkies'' (''Kannada:'' ಮಜಾ ಟಾಕೀಸ್) is an Indian sketch comedy show that premiered on ETV Kannada (now Colors Kannada) on 7 February 2015. The episodes focus on comical scripts and usually feature celebrity guests who ...

'' — as guest * ''Super Minute'' * ''Mareyalare'' * ''Hejje Guruthu'' * ''Majabharata'' (2017) * '' Weekend with Ramesh'' — as guest * '' Satya Kathe''

References

External links

*
Sruthi at MSI
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shruti 1976 births Living people Actresses in Kannada cinema Actresses from Karnataka Actresses in Malayalam cinema People from Hassan Actresses in Tamil cinema Tamil Nadu State Film Awards winners Filmfare Awards South winners Participants in Indian reality television series Reality show winners Big Brother (franchise) winners 21st-century Indian actresses Indian television actresses Indian film actresses Actresses in Kannada television Actresses in Malayalam television Bigg Boss Kannada contestants Actresses in Telugu cinema Actresses in Hindi cinema Actresses in Tamil television