Shriya Saran: Lesser known facts

Popular Tamil and Hindi film actress Shriya Saran turns 33 today. She is a trained dancer, a versatile actor and a compassionate human being. Shriya Saran, has not only established herself as an accomplished actress in the south, but also has made a mark in Bollywood as well as Hollywood. She has acted in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam as well as English films. Here are some lesser known facts about the actress.

Born and brought up in Haridwar, Shriya completed her schooling from the Delhi Public School in Ranipur and Mathura Road and has been an alumni of Lady Shri Ram College. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in literature. Saran is an accomplished classical dancer. She was first trained, as a child, by her mother in kathak and rajasthani folk dance, and later trained in kathak style by one of the best kathak danseuses in the world, Shovana Narayan. Saran wanted to become a classical dancer but ended up becoming an actress.

Saran was spotted by Ramoji Films in a dance video, which she did in her sophomore year in college. It was Renoo Nathan's thirakti kyun hawa. Ramoji Films offered her Ishtam in 2001, her first Telugu film. This is how Shriya Saran's tryst into films began. Even though she started her film journey in 2001, her first commercial success was her 2002 Telugu film Santosham with Nagarjuna and Gracy Singh. The film was well-received by the critics and it was dubbed in Tamil as Santhosha Vanille. Shriya Saran's Tamil debut was with the 2003 film Enakku 20 Unakku 18, starring Tarun and Trisha Krishnan in lead roles. In 2007, Saran starred in the Tamil blockbuster Sivaji: The Boss, opposite Rajnikanth. It was the highest grossing Tamil film at that time. This film catapulted her to new heights.

Shriya Saran's first Hindi role was as a supporting character in the 2003 film, Tujhe Meri Kasam, starring debutants Ritesh Deshmukh and Genelia D'Souza in leading roles. She made her Bollywood comeback with Awaarapan opposite Emraan Hashmi in 2007. She played a Muslim girl in the film and was required to learn Urdu for it. 2008 also marked Shriya Saran's American debut in Ashok Amritraj's The Other End of the Line. She was cast opposite Jesse Metcalfe. The film also starred Anupam Kher and Tara Sharma. Shriya's on-screen chemistry with her co-actor, earned her a lot of accolades from the critics. She then appeared in another English film, Cooking with Stella. Shriya Saran's Hollywood career also boasts of Deepa Mehta's film Midnight's Children, which is based on Salman Rushdie's highly acclaimed novel of the same name.

Apart from films, Saran has participated in other activities as well. In 2011, Shriya opened a spa named Shree Spa in Mumbai that is run by the visually challenged. In an interview to TOI, the actress said, "We feel sympathetic towards them but we never employ them. We are scared because we have not grown up with them. While these people might be visually impaired, their other senses are very strong. So they can effectively give foot and back massages and treatments like reflexology. It's important to understand that you are not doing a favour on them but they are doing a favour on you".

Shriya Saran was also the brand ambassador of Celebrity Cricket League (CCL) for its first two seasons. She performed alongside Shah Rukh Khan at the fourth season opening ceremony of the Indian Premier League (IPL). She also has been the face of many film magazines. In 2008, Shriya was on the cover of the June edition of Maxim India. The then editor of Maxim India, Anup Kutty said, "We had been thinking of getting someone who bridges this strange divide we have between the north, south and the west ... Shreya fit the bill perfectly."

However, even this beauty was no exception to controversies. Shriya received severe backlash for the outfit she donned for the 175th day celebration of her film, <em>Sivaji: The Boss</em>. A Hindu organization in Chennai lodged a police complaint against Saran, alleging that her outfit had &quot;offended Hindu culture&quot;. According to a report in rediff.com, Shriya publicly apologized to Tamilians and Hindus, saying it was a mistake, and that she had great respect for the tradition and culture of Tamil Nadu. &ldquo;I was shooting for a Hindi film in Thanjavur. I came to the function directly from the shooting. I was unaware of the repercussions because of the attire I wore during the function&quot;, said the actress.