Breakthrough actress Shriya Saran is 26 years old today. We saw the sensational Southern beauty recently in Mission Istanbul and earlier in Awaarapan. She is currently making a Hollywood movie, The Other Side of the Line, with ‘Desperate Housewives’ star Jesse Metcalf. She first became a national star with the Tollywood movie Sivaji: The Boss.
Is she planning any big celebrations for her birthday? “Nothing really out of the box,” she says, “I just went out with my family for dinner last night and I’m planning to hang out with my friends today. Rumours had linked her with her co-star in The Other Side of the Line – but she is quick to disabuse people of that idea. “Jesse is a good friend and a great actor,” she explains, “The movie is very well made and Jesse is a method actor, which made it easy for me to work with him. As for our link-up, well, trust me it is just a rumour. He is a very good-looking guy, but he is committed to his girlfriend. And as a Indian girl with values, I respect that.”
Rumour currently has it that Shriya has signed Kamal Hassan’s next big movie, Mamayogi, alongside Trisha and Hema Malini. Shooting begins in October.
Shriya is very much a social activist. As a child, she used to save her pocket money and give it to a blind institute. More recently, she adopted two children from an orphanage. The children remain in the orphanage but Shriya is committed to paying all their food, education, medical and other expenses. It is part of a World Vision project that finds sponsors for deprived children.
