Shruti (actress)
Girija (born 18 September 1975), known by her screen name Shruti, is an Indian actress, television personality and politician. As an actress, she  predominantly appears in Kannada film industry. She is currently serving as chief secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party's women's wing in its Karnataka cadre.

In addition to Kannada, Shruti has appeared in a handful of Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam films. She was among the leading actresses in Kannada cinema during the 1990s and has won three Karnataka State Film Awards and four Filmfare Awards South in her career spanning over 25 years. She is known for performance in films such as Gauri Ganesha (1991), Aagatha (1995), Kalki (1996), Gowdru (2004), Akka Thangi (2008) and Puttakkana Highway (2011). She is sister of actor Sharan. In 2016, she won the third season of the reality television show Bigg Boss Kannada.

Shruti joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2008. She was made the chairperson of the Karnataka Women and Child Development Corporation before being removed in 2009. In 2013, she joined the Karnataka Janata Paksha which eventually merged in 2014 with the BJP.

Early life
Born in a Kannada speaking family in Karnataka, Shruti's birth name is Girija. She was credited as Priyadarshini in her first Kannada movie Aasegobba Meesegobba. She was named Shruti by the actor-director Dwarakish who introduced her in a leading role for his film Shruthi in 1990.

Career
Shruthi was in Puttur in her early ages of life. Shruti started her cinema career in Malayalam film Swantham ennu karuthi. Kannada movie Aasegobba Meesegobba as Shivarajkumar's sister role. Later in the year 1990, she acted as heroine in the movie Shruthi directed and produced by Dwarakish. This movie was successful completing 25 weeks. Some of her popular and successful Kannada movies include Shruti, Taayi Illada Tavaru, Veerappa Nayaka, Gauri Ganesha, Bombat Hendthi, Muddina Maava, Mr. Mahesh Kumar and Midida Hrudayagalu. At the peak of her career Shruti was stereotyped for tear jerking roles. 

She won her first Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actress for Aagatha (1995) directed by Suresh Heblikar. In a career spanning three decades, she has acted with all the leading Kannada heroes of her time -  Vishnuvardhan, Ambareesh, Tiger Prabhakar, Shiva Rajkumar, Shashikumar, Ramesh Aravind, Jaggesh, Devaraj, Sunil, Abhijeeth and Ram Kumar. Navashakthi Vaibhava (2008) was Shruti's 100th film (filmed in 2003).  Gowdru turned out to be her 100th release in which she played the sister of the character played by Ambareesh.

She made her debut in Telugu with Parugo Parugu opposite Rajendra Prasad and went on to act with him in a few more. Her Tamil film Kalki (1996) directed by the ace director K. Balachander won her the Filmfare Award and also the Tamil Nadu State Award for Best Actress. 

Shruti made her small screen debut in the Malayalam serial Sthreethvam aired on Surya TV during 2005. Also, her Tamil daily serial, Karthigai Pengal aired on Sun TV from July 2012. Shruti was a contestant in the reality television show Bigg Boss Kannada 3, winning the season, in January 2016. In 2017, she appeared as a judge in the comedy television series Majaa Bharatha.

In Vidhi (Article) 370, set in the backdrop of terror activities in Jammu and Kashmir, her first release of 2023, Shruti played Preethi, the wife of an army officer who needs a heart transplant. In Veeram, she played Saraswathi, the protective sister of the protagonist played by Prajwal Devaraj. The reviewer for Cinema Express wrote: "Shruti's role brings that emotional connection among siblings and all the sentiment is brought through her."

Personal life
Shruti was married to film director S. Mahendar for 11 years and they divorced in 2009. Post her divorce she was linked with Chakravarthy Chandrachud, a journalist-turned-director. They got married in June 2013 and divorced a year later.

Filmography

Television 
''All shows are in Kannada, unless otherwise noted.

References

External links
 
 Sruthi at MSI

1976 births
Living people
Actresses in Kannada cinema
Actresses from Karnataka
Actresses in Malayalam cinema
People from Hassan
Actresses in Tamil cinema
Tamil Nadu State Film Awards winners
Filmfare Awards South winners
Participants in Indian reality television series
Reality show winners
Big Brother (franchise) winners
21st-century Indian actresses
Indian television actresses
Indian film actresses
Actresses in Kannada television
Actresses in Malayalam television
Bigg Boss Kannada contestants
Actresses in Telugu cinema
Actresses in Hindi cinema
Actresses in Tamil television