Today, we’d like to introduce you to Shruti Tewari. Shruti was introduced to us by the brilliant and talented Rahul Nath.
Shruti, can you walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
A lifelong love for movies helped me realize my vision of making my own films. I have made three short films over the last five years and have garnered numerous laurels for each of them including a Remi Award for my first film. This journey is long and I did not have a straightforward path to where I am today. I was dissuaded from studying the arts and took detours into investment banking on Wall Street and startup incubation in Silicon Valley, before settling into the world of films as a writer and director. Of course my interest and pursuit of the performing arts had always found me on stage and screen as an actor, and I was not a total newbie to set life or the process of creating a film when I started. I also devoured all I could on the subject through podcasts, books and even experiential learning through film labs. I am eager to develop my three feature scripts, one pilot and a couple of shorts in the coming years.
Alright, so we’d love to learn more about your acting career. What should we know?
Acting came to me through the classical Indian dance form of Bharatnatyam. I spent my early years in Chennai and New Delhi, and found myself in dance classes with some prominent names in the history of the dance form. While the initial introduction can be credited to my mother, my continuation of it was entirely due to my Gurus who brought out the inner danseuse within me. I learned how to incorporate expressions into my dancing, reenacting age old narratives from Indian mythology onto the stage in dance, and dance drama, performances. I revisited my love for the performing arts in the early 2000s and started with community theatre in the Bay Area. Subsequently, I performed with some major theatre groups, culminating in a one-woman show in Berkeley, based on Jean Cocteau’s “The Human Voice.” That led to my casting in an Indian film that went on to become a big Bollywood blockbuster. Around the same time, I worked on an award-winning independent film that got me my SAG card. Since then, I have been in over forty productions, many of which went to the biggest stages including Cannes Film Festival. My notable feature roles include “Khazana” in which I played a sassy, saucy mother-in-law from hell. This was an out and out negative role and I was pleasantly surprised to see my venomous take being praised by reviewers. I am looking forward to the release of the cultural comedy feature, “Chindia,” which boasts of a remarkably diverse cast battling the bad guys in the most unexpected of ways. Look for the Avengers-like stride of the battle-ready Indian and Chinese parents of the protagonists.
Rahul Nath has been a great friend to us and I know you’ve got a great relationship as well. Maybe you can tell our audience a bit about Rahul and your experience with them.
My association with Rahul has lasted over a decade and that is truly noteworthy when it comes to relationships between artistic collaborators. Rahul had cast me for his first short film, “Foreign,” and I was truly grateful to him for the opportunity, given that I was neither in Los Angeles at that time, nor was I a trained actor, in the conventional sense. I had submitted for his project through Actor’s Access and had submitted a video audition for the part of a conniving back-stabber for his film. I met him for the first time on set during the first day of filming and he candidly shared with me how much he had laughed while watching my taped submission. I was truly encouraged to give the part my all and he proved to be a wonderful director giving me that space to develop into a devious character.
Since then, we have worked together on several projects and he has been, both, a co-actor as well as my director on most of these. What I admire about Rahul is his clear vision for each of his characters and a strong read on the emotional arc of every scene. He has a unique point of view and he is unafraid to push the narrative into the uncomfortable territory to highlight the murky depths of human frailty. His works have garnered him much deserved acclaim and I have watched him grow in confidence and conviction in his narrative style.
Over the years, he has come to be a close personal friend and he is one of the biggest reasons, I took to filmmaking myself. I have not known any other filmmaker to be so invested in someone else’s career path, and he has motivated me, guided me, taught me to embrace my point of view and present my authentic perspective. Having the support of someone, who is willing to share all their knowledge and experience with you, is priceless, and that is what I admire in Rahul the most. His selfless approach to mentoring me every step of the way and his willingness to support me through the toughest of times (and there are countless of those in any filmmaker’s journey) are what make the experience of working with him so very special. There is deep-rooted mutual respect for one another’s struggles and triumphs which gives us a healthy foundation to keep building our respective artistic careers while looking for opportunities to extend our collaborations.
Website: https://www.shrutitewari.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shruti_tewari/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shrutitewarifilm/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/shrutitewari
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShrutiTewariOfficial/
Image Credits
Shruti Tewari, Rahul Nath, NikNak Productions
