Shruti Haasan

Debut and early career (2000; 2009–2011)

Haasan's first appearance in a feature film was as a child artist in a cameo role as the daughter of Vallabhbhai Patel in the Tamil-Hindi bilingual Hey Ram, based on a murder attempt on Mahatma Gandhi, directed by her father Kamal Haasan. After rejecting prominent film offers, most notably the lead role in Venkat Prabhu's Saroja, reports suggested in late 2007 that Haasan was set to make her actual acting debut in 2008 with a film opposite Madhavan, directed by Nishikant Kamat.^[14] Entitled Endrendrum Punnagai,^[15] the film was stalled before production began.^[16]


Haasan eventually signed up to feature in Soham Shah's Hindi film Luck, opposite Imran Khan, in July 2008, and shot for the film for nearly a year.^[17] Khan, her childhood friend, had recommended her name to the director and Haasan signed on after listening to the entire script and accepted to play a dual role in the action film.^[18] She took part in action scenes during filming and worked out extensively.^[19] The film opened in July 2009 to unanimously poor reviews from critics and took a poor opening at the box office, with critics stating that she "deserved a better launch vehicle".^[20] Reviewers were critical of her performance, with Rajeev Masand of IBN stating that she delivers "dialogues with deadpan expressions", while another critic added that she is perhaps "synthetic and fails to impress".^[21][22] Haasan then went on to appear alongside Blaaze in the promotional videos for Unnaipol Oruvan and Eenadu, the bilingual films starring her father, which she had composed the music for. She made a further appearance in a promotional video for the horror film Hisss, starring Mallika Sherawat, where she had also sung a song composed by Dave Kushner.^[23]


Haasan made her Telugu debut in January 2011, acting opposite Siddharth in the fantasy adventure film Anaganaga O Dheerudu, directed by Prakash Kovelamudi, son of director K. Raghavendra Rao. The film, co-produced by Walt Disney Pictures, saw her play a gypsy with magic healing powers defended by a swordsman, played by Siddharth.^[24] The film opened to positive reviews, with her performance being praised, with a critic of Sify noting: "Shruti looks quite attractive and makes a wonderful screen presence", while a reviewer from Rediff.com wrote that she "looks beautiful and has a mystical aura about her".^[25][26]


Her second Hindi feature film, Madhur Bhandarkar's romantic comedy Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji, saw her appear in an extended guest appearance alongside Emraan Hashmi. The film portrayed her as Nikki Narang, the step-daughter of an ex Miss India model, with Hashmi's character falling for both mother and daughter.^[27] Her performance gained poor responses from critics, with a reviewer citing that her character has been "reduced to post-interval surfacing, last-ditch glamour", while another labelled hers as "so fake that she offers only disappointment";^[28] however, the film went on to become a commercial success at the box office.^[29]


In mid-2010, Haasan was signed by AR Murugadoss to star opposite Suriya in his next film 7aum Arivu, and the film's shooting began in June later that year.^[30] The director signed after he felt she looked the part of the scientist, mentioning that she seemed "intelligent and beautiful". She played Subha Srinivasan, a young scientist in the film, who hopes to re-activate the genes of 5th century Buddhist monk Bodhidharma, and her performance in the film won appreciation from critics. The film opened to mixed reviews, but became commercially successful.^[31][32] Malathi Rangarajan from The Hindu noted: "rarely is a heroine given near-equal footing in Tamil films", describing her as "ravishing but that she ought to work harder on spontaneity, and fine-tune her Tamil accent", but concluded "the point is the actor shows promise".^[33] Her next Telugu release was Oh My Friend, a romantic comedy film alongside Siddharth again, which also co-starred Hansika Motwani and Navdeep. The film told the story of childhood friends, and that of their platonic friendship that went on in their adulthood as well, and for the role Shruti Haasan went on to learn the dance of Kuchipudi.^[34] The film opened to average reviews, with several critics claiming the film evoked a sense of "déjà vu", though B. V. S. Prakash of Deccan Chronicle noted: "Shruti, on her part displays the same conviction."^[35]