Actor Shruti Haasan has described her father Kamal Haasan as her “biggest ally” since childhood, saying he has challenged patriarchal norms at home and taught her to question conventions. In a conversation with Twinkle Khanna for Tweak India, Shruti spoke about how her parents shaped her outlook, explaining that while her mother, Sarika, has been an example of an independent woman, having a father who also challenges traditional rules for women has been even more powerful.
Speaking about her relationship with Kamal, Shruti said she often jokes that she is “Frankenstein’s monster” because of how much her father’s influence has shaped her personality.
Shruti Haasan calls father Kamal Haasan her biggest ally
During the conversation, Shruti Haasan spoke about the influence Kamal Haasan has had on her since childhood and how his approach to gender roles has shaped her understanding of equality.
“My dad is really my biggest ally from childhood which is part of the reason I keep telling him I’m Frankenstein’s monster. So everything that he disagrees, I’m like, you raised me to be like this. My mom’s a very independent, well-versed woman in life professionally and I think that’s a beautiful example but to have a man at home who also breaks those rules for women is even more powerful in a patriarchal society,” she said.
When Twinkle Khanna asked whether Kamal Haasan challenged rules only for his daughter or for women more broadly, Shruti Haasan replied, “I think in general, yes.”
The actor also spoke about whether she felt she was treated differently because she was Kamal’s daughter.
“He’s always unimpressed with me. He’s the standard Indian dad,” she said.
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Shruti Haasan says Kamal Haasan is a fan of Twinkle Khanna’s writing
The conversation also took a light-hearted turn when Shruti Haasan revealed that her father Kamal Haasan admires Twinkle Khanna’s work as a writer. She said she had told Kamal about her meeting with Twinkle, only to discover that he was already familiar with her columns and books.
“I have to tell you my dad’s a fan of your writing. I told him I’m coming here today and he’s like, that Twinkle girl is very witty. I read her columns and I’ve read her book and I was like, really? He’s like, yeah, she’s very witty. So you have a fan of your writing in my father,” Shruti said.
Twinkle appeared surprised by the revelation and replied, “I’m in absolute shock right now. That’s really, really flattering. I didn’t even know that he knows I exist but okay.”
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Shruti on her upbringing
Shruti Haasan has often spoken about her upbringing and the influence of her parents, Kamal Haasan and Sarika. In a podcast with Ranveer Allahbadia, she described her childhood as unusual because of her parents’ careers in cinema and the creative environment in which she grew up.
“It was fun, it was exciting, because of my father and mother’s career. I had an abnormal childhood in that sense. Like, we grew up on movie sets where we had elephants and pomeranians that would walk up to you. That’s insanely cool when you are five years old. We used to meet all these incredible artists, got to travel and see amazing places.”
The actor also shared how her parents’ individualistic personalities shaped their approach to raising her and her younger sister, Akshara Haasan.
She said, “I had two very unique and individualistic people as parents. It was a cloud of creativity and chaos going on. Both my parents were artistically mercurial people. They both also had never been to school, so they didn’t really have an idea about how to raise academic kids. I could see them learning to parent us while we were kids.”
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Shruti Haasan says Kamal Haasan let her rebel
In another conversation, Shruti Haasan spoke about her father Kamal Haasan’s response to her unconventional appearance and personal choices, including experimenting with her hair and wearing coloured contact lenses.
“I feel that my father is God’s child. He has seen me wear demon lenses and pink hair, poor father of mine. He has really seen the rebellion and he let me do it, that’s sweet of him. And he doesn’t like tattoos, hates them,” she said.
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