Actor Shruti Haasan’s last release was Behen Hogi Teri that came out in 2017. She did two other films that year, one in Telugu - Katamarayudu with Pawan Kalyan and one in Tamil - Singam 3 with Suriya.
In a recent interview with actor Lakshmi Manchu on her Telugu talk show Feet Up with the Stars, Shruti opened up about why she had given up alcohol, her time off from work and also about her personal relationships.
“I don’t drink anymore. It’s been two years. Personally, I live a sober life now,” the actor said, when Lakshmi brought up her love for whiskey. Lakshmi pointed out that earlier, Shruti never used to shy away from alcohol but that now she doesn't drink at all. Shruti has also given up coffee, she said.
She is currently filming two projects - Mahesh Manjrekar’s Power in Hindi and Laabam in Tamil with Vijay Sethupathi.
Shruti spoke about her physical and mental health and the reason why she had to take a year off. “I was also unwell. I haven’t spoken about it but I had a medical condition. And you can't talk about these things. People are always saying, 'Shruthi has become fat'. I was trying to heal myself. I stopped caring about what people were saying. I had to figure it all out. I took a one year break,” she said in the interview.
Her films too became uninspiring after a point, Shruti said. “In my career too I felt I was doing the same kind of roles. I felt it was time (I took a break). I wanted to re-establish my connect with my audience," she added.
And to achieve this, Shruti felt the need to heal from within. “A healthy body is the first step. You need a healthy body and a healthy mind to deal with the outside world. If you aren't healthy inside, you can’t challenge the world,” she said adding that she’s found new strength and is more targeted now, like a “rocket”.
Shruti, who first established herself as a musician, also revealed that at one point, she felt depressed about missing out on her music. “I love entertaining people but my first form of honest expression is music. At one point I was doing 6-7 films and I had to pause my music. But that made me a little depressed. I used to wonder what was wrong since my films were doing well, I was getting awards, money, fame. What was missing? Music was missing.”
On her relationships, the actor said that she was quite "innocent" in the beginning, and added, “I acted and looked like a know-it-all but I was very innocent. I was easily bossed around by other people. I was a very emotional person too. But I'm happy about by all my relationships, no regrets. They’ve been a learning experience.”
You can watch the full episode on Voot here.