![\"Shriya](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Shriya-Saran-talks-about-being-labelled-a-\u2018South-star-620.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nActor Shriya Saran has never believed in fitting into neatly defined boxes. In a candid conversation with Hindustan Times, the actor opened up about her journey, her upbringing, and why labels\u2014especially being termed a \u2018South star\u2019\u2014don\u2019t define who she is, even though she deeply values the love she has received from Southern cinema.<\/p>\n
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Shriya Saran talks about being labelled a \u2018South star\u2019 and why she rejects tags: \u201cPeople start saying these things or start boxing you\u201d<\/p>\n
Tracing her roots, Shriya spoke about her early life and the bold decisions that shaped her career. \u201cI was born in Haridwar. I lived there for 17 years of my life. Then I moved to Delhi, so I could learn Kathak from Shovana Narayan ji. That was a huge move at that point in time. Then I started acting when I was 17. And that was a huge step for my family because my dad\u2019s an engineer, mom\u2019s a teacher in DPS, and it was like \u2018what!?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Her transition from a small-town upbringing to life in the capital came with its own challenges, but also valuable lessons. \u201cBecause 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Shriya is often described as a \u2018South star\u2019 due to her extensive work in Telugu, Tamil, and other southern film industries, she acknowledges the affection she has received from audiences there. \u201cThe kind of love South has given me really makes me blessed. My heart is South Indian, I feel.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, she believes that being boxed into a particular image is more about perception than limitation. Reflecting on how actors are labelled, she said, \u201cOne 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\u2019s attacking you because people think like that for you, or they are boxing you, then it\u2019ll 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shriya added that public perception can also be a sign of success. \u201cPeople start saying these things or start boxing you, is when they\u2019re noticing you. Then you break that, and you become something else\u201d.<\/p>\n
Over the years, Shriya Saran has seamlessly moved between South Indian cinema and Bollywood, building a diverse filmography. In the South, she is widely known for major hits like Tagore, Chatrapathi, Sivaji: The Boss, Pokiri, and Drishyam (Telugu and Tamil versions). In Bollywood, she has featured in films such as Awarapan, Mission Istaanbul, Drishyam 2, and Gamanam, showcasing her ability to adapt across industries and storytelling styles.<\/p>\n
As Shriya continues to evolve as an actor, her journey stands as a reminder that identity in cinema doesn\u2019t have to be confined to geography – and that sometimes, breaking the box is part of becoming something entirely new.<\/p>\n
Also Read: JioHotstar announces TVF series Space Gen: Chandrayaan, starring Nakuul Mehta and Shriya Saran<\/a><\/p>\n BOLLYWOOD NEWS – LIVE UPDATES<\/p>\n Catch us for latest Bollywood News<\/a>, New Bollywood Movies<\/a> update, Box office collection<\/a>, New Movies Release <\/a>, Bollywood News Hindi<\/a>, Entertainment News<\/a>, Bollywood Live News Today<\/a> & Upcoming Movies 2026<\/a> and stay updated with latest hindi movies only on Bollywood Hungama.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Actor Shriya Saran has never believed in fitting into neatly defined boxes. In a candid conversation with Hindustan…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":442391,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[4073,703,49,48,5105,182999,5593,84949,82],"class_list":["post-442390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-bollywood","tag-boxing","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-features","tag-shriya-saran","tag-south","tag-south-cinema","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=442390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442390\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/442391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=442390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=442390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=442390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}