Aksharaa Haasan says she's a high school dropout; parents Kamal-Sarika never pressured her or Shruti to act: ‘Took weight off our shoulders’

Looking back at her career, Aksharaa Haasan says she worked as a choreographer and an assistant director before venturing into acting.

Actor Aksharaa Haasan might have parents who are wildly successful actors, but she says she and her elder sister, Shruti Haasan, were never pressured by them to act. On Cyrus Broacha’s podcast, the actor spoke about beginning her career as a choreographer and working as an assistant director before she decided to try acting. She also revealed that she never graduated from high school after failing three times.

Aksharaa Haasan says Kamal Haasan doesn't criticise her work unless she asks for it.

Aksharaa Haasan on the beginning of her career

Aksharaa spoke on the podcast that her first job wasn’t as an actor or an AD. “My first job wasn’t as an actor, actually. It wasn’t even an AD; it was a choreographer. I started with music videos. I choreographed videos for friends who are dancers. My intention was to direct; I worked as an AD to become a director. The reason I got into acting is because how can you say no if you’ve not even tried it? I want to definitely want to get behind the camera,” she said.

When she mentioned that even if you don’t graduate high school, there are courses you can take in dancing to be able to attend college and specialise in it. When Cyrus commented that ‘even if you’re a complete failure, you can still be a dancer’, she chimed in, admitting that she didn’t graduate from high school either. She then revealed that she dropped out of high school after failing thrice because she ‘lost interest’ and realised she wasn’t going to pass.

Having Kamal and Sarika as parents

Aksharaa credited her parents, Kamal Haasan and Sarika, for never pressuring her or Shruti to act. “My parents have never put that pressure on both my sister and me to be like, accha ab aap actor log ki beti ho, toh actor hi banna hai. Okay, you don’t have to. We’ll suggest, don’t become one if you don’t want to. Do what you want to do. So, I guess that really helped take the weight off our shoulders,” she said.

When Cyrus asked if her family is the kind to be open about criticism after their films or shows' release, she said yes. However, she added that they avoid it unless they feel that she or Shruti has missed or not noticed something about their performance. Aksharaa also mentioned that let them ‘figure it out’ otherwise, but would tell them to their face if they were ‘pathetic’.

Aksharaa worked as an assistant director to Rahul Dholakia on the 2010 film Society, which starred her mother, Sarika. She also worked on Kamal’s unreleased film Sabaash Naidu, which had Shruti in a supporting role. She turned down acting offers before debuting in 2015 with R Balki’s Shamitabh, co-starring Amitabh Bachchan and Dhanush. Her first Tamil film was the 2017 film Vivegam with Ajith Kumar. Aksharaa last starred in Simulacra.