Hari ge Prriya nam Shruthi

It was supposed to be ten minutes interview, but the conversation went on for an hour. Hariprriya is extremely down to earth, does not flaunt her stardom, and talks non-stop. Many a times both of us deviated from the question and had to re-collect the instance that triggered the topic.

Below are the chit-chat details

C: Shruthi to Hariprriyahege? (There is an extra letter ‘r’)  The change of name!

HP: When I did a tulu movie Badi, the director gave me some inferences that how many actresses have changed name and have gained positivity from it. Who gets to choose one’s own name? I was ok with the idea and the team came up with so many names from the letter “H”. Finally, I chose “Hariprriya”, because it means Lakshmi, who is ‘harigepriyavaadavalu’ and our family deity is Venkateshwara i.e. Hari.

C: Initial Kannada projects doomed, but the Tamil/Telugu movies did quite well, so was it tough to say yes to Kannada again.

HP:I entered the industry without a god-father. Those movies doomed yes, but my performance as in my acting skills was appreciated. That matters to me and yeah, initially I wasn’t very serious about this career path. But once I chose it as my profession, I have taken utmost care in choosing each and every role. I am also glad that whatever be the choices or decisions, I have learnt it through mistakes. I have made them so the positive impact for the rest of the years will be good.

C: Abbayi class Ammayi Mass v/s Neer Dose. How similar, how difficult?

HP: Very different in fact. ACAM was tailor made for Telugu audience, it is more on emotions and how will it be when a sex worker falls in love. My appearance is more towards glamorous, gaudy, loud type. In Neer Dose, my character is classy. The profession is same in both movies, but this one is on relationships. You will have to wait and watch to know more.

C: Why Neer Dose? It appears to be a jinxed project, yet.

HP: Many reasons actually,

1. I admire Ramya and I always wanted to see how she has portrayed the character. But when the project stalled, I was disappointed.   
2. The fact that the director has not lost hopes on his project for two years – it should be a very strong subject.  
3. Director approached  me and told me his reason of choosing me, that it is because he considers me as a versatile actress. That means a lot. 
4. They say I fit well as traditional, innocent girl, but this was a challenge. Doing a complete opposite of my reel image – I was game. 
5. Finally, I wanted to do what no one has done in the Sandalwood industry instead of following the trend. My mom and my friends all of them told me, I should take it up.   My dad was a huge fan of Jaggesh, I am sure if he was around, he would be so happy to see me act with him.

C: We’ve heard you lost weight for Ricky, how close is the movie to you?

HP: I’ve given my heart, soul, weight and blood to the character. HaHa it is that close. The part where I play a naxal could never be healthy. I mean, they hardly get any food in the forest, also no parlor work in that schedule (grins). I followed strict diet, jogged after the shoot with the crew. I had cuts and bruises during the shoot but yes all worth because the movie looks amazing and I am very positive people will adore it.

C: Projects lined up?

HP: You know NeerDose, apart from that I am doing ModalanemaLe and Rajadhani 2, One Tamil movie "Varayo Vennilave"is ready for release.

We wish Hariprriya a great year ahead, cannot wait to savor Neer Dose ;- )