Shriya says the constant shifts and movements in her life as a teenager prepared her for the public life she leads today. “Because I was a small-town girl in Delhi, it was a cultural shock for me. From there to LSR and then when I went to sets, learning new languages, all of that, I feel really prepared me for life”

Even though Shriya debuted in Bollywood with Awarapan two decades ago, she was almost always referred to as a South actress in the media, not that she is complaining. Shriya says, “The kind of love South has given me really makes me blessed. My heart is South Indian, I feel.”

Since her debut with Ishtam in 2001, Shriya has worked in some of the biggest Tamil and Telugu hits, including Chatrapathi, Sivaji, Pokkiri Raja, and Manam, as well as a cameo in RRR. But she has also been active in Hindi films, appearing in the Drishyam films apart from Awarapan. Talking about the ‘south actress’ label, she says, “One of the things that I learned is that you are what you believe yourself to be. If you keep growing and learning and let life teach you things, you start living it better. But if you start thinking life is coming at you, or it’s attacking you because people think like that for you, or they are boxing you, then it’ll become a battle. While you can actually use it as a kind of flavour that this is what they think of me; this is my flavour.”

Shriya argues that people will label and box you only if you are noticeable. “People start saying these things or start boxing you, is when they’re noticing you. Then you break that, and you become something else,” she adds.