Shwetha Srivtsav: Kannada cinema needs to work on its gender bias

Actor Shwetha Srivatsav, who is coming back to the movies, believes that Kannada film industry needs to keep up with changing times

Actor Shwetha Srivatsav is set to return to the big screen after she took a hiatus in 2017. And she’s off to a great start this year with as many as three projects in the pipeline — Ambarish BM’s political thriller Hope is ready for release, while Raghavendra Stores, a comedy with a social message is in the post-production stage and she’ll soon begin shooting for Chikkiya Mukutti, a social film on child marriage and female infanticide.

Actor Shwetha Srivtsav is back with 3 Kannada films lined-up this year (Shwetha Srivatsav)

“I was very fortunate to get these films, scheduled to be released in the same year,” says an excited Srivatsav, adding, “When I had my baby in 2017, everyone thought I said goodbye to the film industry.”

She goes on to note that all her upcoming projects are women-oriented, which is something she’s always wanted to focus on. Srivatsav also believes that in order to keep up with changing times, the Kannada film industry needs to address its “gender bias and promote women-oriented films” more frequently.

“We don’t get to see women-oriented films because they (the makers) don’t think they’ll sell. I realised how grateful I was for the folks who still make films on these issues when I took up Hope,” says the Simple Agi Ondh Love Story (2013) actor.

And when Srivatsav was offered Raghavendra Stores shortly after, she couldn’t believe her good fortune. “The filmmakers are some of the top names in the industry, so getting this project was a major thing for me. When you get such offers in the industry, you know you’re doing something good,” adds the actor.

With a strong passion for specific roles and genres that she wants to work on in the future, Srivatsav says, “I don’t just have one role that I want to portray; I have many. Why should I be limited to just a few? To cite one of these goals, I would want to play a female protagonist in a period drama film centred on women, such as Bollywood’s Padmaavat (2018).”

Having made her debut with Mukha Mukhi (2006), the actor recounts that she always wanted to work in mainstream films but a “lot of people around” her thought she “was running after glamour and money”. According to her, “The South Indian film market is small in scale and extremely male-dominated. I faced a lot of issues in the 15 years of my experience in the industry when it came to being a female lead. If they found out I’m a strong actor, they’d focus more on the male lead.”

She goes on to narrate, “I could see that men who succeeded, along with me, reached such levels of success, and I always wondered how they did so without the challenges that I faced. I have proven my success too, but the industry doesn’t want to highlight it, and I don’t understand why.”

Lastly, she credits her husband for believing in her and credits her journey in the movie business to him. “My husband has been the only person who encouraged me to pursue my goals,” concludes Srivatsav.