“My last working day as a lawyer was on February 27th, 2015. There has been no looking back,” says lawyer-turned-actor Shraddha Srinath.

Shraddha started her acting career three years ago. Having already acted in 9 films and a recipient of Filmfare Critics’ award, Best Actor, Kannada, she has a busy year ahead.

Recently in an interaction with Your Story, sharing her idea of acting, Shraddha said, “Acting in movies is like running a venture, where every decision and buck stops at you. The character, script, role, everything you decide and choose to follow.”

She further added on the idea and expressed that as an actor it is integral to sell well and for that, it is important to know what exactly you want. While her experience as a theatre artist has taught her a lot, in theatre things like script selection, knowing about the co-actors and production houses don’t really exist. The same things stand as important as acting and performing in films though.

Shraddha also shared her journey from being a law professional to an actor and how it was an outcome of a series of events. “I had this great chaos in my head, and every night I would wonder what was I doing,” she says recollecting the transformation phase.

Narrating her story from the very beginning she shared how law happened to her, “I had quit science after my 10th. I was a commerce student, and I knew I wanted to do a professional course and something that no one in my family had done before. Law matched all the criteria. Though I wasn’t passionate about law, it seemed interesting.”

But during her second and third year of pursuing law, her interests started dwindling and she entered the magical world of theatre. Shraddha shares, “There is a difference in saying things and actually doing it. In the first year, I gave the excuse that I was new in the city, and then gave the excuse of distance and travel time. I procrastinated till the third year. One day, on Facebook, there was a casting call by Imbroglio Productions. My friend happened to see that and thought I should give it a shot, and I went for it.”

She made her debut in theatre through singing and the first acting role that she got was for  Neil Simon’s play Good Doctor where she played multiple roles. She admits candidly, “I know my first acting gig was bad. But I really wanted to improve, and over time, with continued effort, I saw myself improving and getting more comfortable with the role, with my body, and understanding the art better.”

By the time she finished her course in law, she was already disillusioned by it. Money was the only constraint that stopped her from jumping directly into acting. “For five years of college, I was dependent on my parents. And I felt I needed to give law a serious shot,” she shares.

Thus her first job as a law professional was at Century Real Estate which she didn’t really enjoy. It was followed by her work at Decathlon which she kind of liked. She eventually started loving her job but was soon faced by a dilemma.

Shraddha recollects, “I was enjoying my job, I had big projects to handle and would travel a lot. The team I was working with were unique, different and fun. I got busy with work and couldn’t go for rehearsals that often. It soon was like having some withdrawal symptoms, and so I went to my boss and asked if I could juggle between both? She was kind enough to say as long as the work gets done it really doesn’t matter.”

The phase was, however, a time of epiphany for Shraddha as she realised that while her job was both comfortable and good, it was acting where her heart truly was. She soon got a call from a Kannada movie production house.

She shares, “I first wondered if it was legit. When it was the real deal, I went and auditioned for the role. It was then that it struck me that doing this would really mean me quitting my job. I had the idea in my head, but was pushed to the brink of making that choice. Reality is always different.”

Thus Shraddha took the plunge and her life was changed forever. “I was tired of juggling and I told my parents that I would like to do something that I love doing,” she says.

H/T: Your Story