Sridevi to Asin and Shruti Hassan: What south Indian actors said about working in Bollywood

Over the decades, a number of female actors have worked in Bollywood films. Here's what they have said about working in the industry.

Nayanthara's stellar debut in Shah Rukh Khan's Jawan is being appreciated by one and all. The actor, who is called 'Lady Superstar' by her fans, essays the role of a cop chasing a criminal responsible for multiple heists, which is played by Shah Rukh Khan. (Also read: After Vaishno Devi, Shah Rukh Khan in Tirupati with Suhana, Nayanthara to seek blessings ahead of Jawan release. Watch)

Actors like Sridevi, Shruti Hassan and Genelia D'Souza have all shared about their experiences of doing Bollywood films.

Let us take a look at some other south Indian actors, who have worked in Bollywood, and what they said about it.

Asin

The actor made her Bollywood debut opposite Aamir Khan in Ghajini. Her performance garnered critical acclaim and the film went on to become a huge success. Asin then went on to work with more Bollywood superstars including Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgn.

In an interview with PTI from 2014, the actor had said that it is a wrong notion that she only works with superstars. "It is a wrong interpretation. I am happy that I have got to work with established actors. But apart from that I am happy to have worked with established actors. But apart from them I am open to do films with anyone. The script should be good enough."

Genelia D'Souza

Genelia made her acting debut with the Hindi film, Tujhe Meri Kasam. Fans still remember her as Aditi from Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na, alongside Imran Khan. In a recent interview with Siddharth Kannan in 2023, the actor said, "It's really good to see India is no more regional cinema – South, North, Punjabi or Marathi cinema. It's a blanket of Indian cinema. In the South, they have a very loyal fan base. They come from a legacy of films. I, on the other hand, was an outsider in two films. But, when I did South films then they used to say that Bollywood dropouts go to the South, at that point in time.”

Shruti Hassan

In an interview with Hindustan Times in 2020, the actor who has worked in a number of Bollywood films said, “I honestly have many times felt like an outsider, especially in Bollywood, there is a whole North-South thing that constantly happens. For example, if I’m doing three Telugu films and three Tamil films, they’ll say, ‘Oh, but you’re not focusing on Hindi,’ as if that is the only industry in the country. And it isn’t. So I have always felt like an outsider.”

She had added, "And also, as a person, I have always felt removed from the norms of what is expected of a woman or the way an actress is supposed to behave. You know, this is how it works in this business. I still haven’t understood what those tricks of the trade, so to speak, are. So I have always felt like an outsider. I wasn’t brought up in a very filmy house. My parents were actors but that was just their job. At home, it was an artistic home, that was it. It was not assumed that I would join the film industry."

Tamannah Bhatia

The actor made her debut in 2005 with Hindi film Chand Sa Roshan Chehra (2005). Since then, the actor has worked in a number of Tamil and Telugu films. She was last seen in the web series Aakhri Sach.

In an interview with Pinkvilla in 2022, she said, “I think it is essential, in south fans are very loyal. I think they have emotion around the artists. For them, it is a very personal and different connection with them. But I feel, that kind of stardom in the North, it is of course there but I see it is there for those few stars who have consolidated themselves for over a period of a decade. That loyalty comes through time."

Sridevi: The first female superstar of the industry ruled Indian cinema and worked in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, and Kannada language films. According to reports, Sridevi was the first Bollywood actress to charge ₹1 crore for one of her film.

In an interview with Rediffi in 2012, she said, “I am very happy that I got my identity because of this industry. I don't think everyone can become an actress. It`s not a joke. You really have to slog. You have to devote your life to be the best. There is no point doing a film just to be a part of the industry.”