Shriya Saran says she is not bothered about the ‘South actress’ tag: ‘You are what you believe yourself to be’

For the people in the southern states of India, Shriya Saran is THE ‘Sivaji: The Boss’ actor. The ones in the northern parts of the country identify her as the ‘Awarapan’ or the ‘Drishyam’ star. From the beginning of her career, she has worked across different entertainment industries, including Kollywood, Bollywood, and even English films. And yet, she is often referred to as the ‘South actress’. Does that bother Shriya Saran? Not really.Shriya Saran now completes 25 years in the cinema industry. The actress has now opened up about why being called a ‘south actress’ has never really bothered her, as she doesn’t see it as a limitation. In a recent interview with Hindustan Times, Shriya Saran spoke about how the tag of ‘south actress’, despite having worked across industries, has never bothered her. In fact, she absolutely embraces the love the audience in the South gives her. “The kind of love South has given me really makes me blessed. My heart is South Indian, I feel,” she said. Talking about how the tag has not really affected her, Shriya Saran adds, “One of the things that I learned is that you are what you believe yourself to be. If you keep growing and learning and let life teach you things, you start living it better. But if you start thinking life is coming at you, or it's attacking you because people think like that for you, or they are boxing you, then it'll become a battle. While you can actually use it as a kind of flavour that this is what they think of me; this is my flavour.”“People start saying these things or start boxing you when they're noticing you. Then you break that, and you become something else,” she further explains. On the work front, Shriya Saran’s recent outing was the web series ‘Space Gen: Chandrayaan’.