Shruti
Shruti in 2016
Chairperson, Karnataka Women’s Development Corporation
In office 2008 – June 2009
Succeeded by	D. S. Aswath
Chairperson, Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation
In office January 2020 – July 2021
Personal details
Born	Girija Hassan, Karnataka, India
Political party	Bharatiya Janata Party (2008–13, 2014–present)
Other political affiliations	Karnataka Janata Paksha (2013–14)
Spouses	S. Mahendar ​ ​ (m. 1998; div. 2009)​ Chakravarthy Chandrachud ​ ​ (m. 2013; div. 2014)​
Relatives	Sharan (brother)
Occupation	Actress politician

Girija, known by her screen name Shruti, is an Indian actress, television personality and politician. She is the Winner of Bigg Boss Kannada Season 3, 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 Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu 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.^[1]

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 BJP. Shruti, over the years has been considered one of the prolific actresses of Kannada cinema and a household name with her regular appearances as a judge for reality shows and films. She was judge in a TV show Majaabharata^{[citation needed]}.

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.

(L–R) Shruti in an interview in 2016, 2023

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).^[2][3] Gowdru turned out to be her 100th release in which she played the sister of the character played by Ambareesh.^[4]

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.^[5] In 2017, she appeared as a judge in the comedy television series Majaa Bharatha.^[6]

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.^[7] 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."^[8]

Shruti was married to film director S. Mahendar for 11 years and they divorced in 2009.^{[citation needed]} Post her divorce she was linked with Chakravarthy Chandrachud, a journalist-turned-director. They got married in June 2013 and divorced a year later.^[9]

• All shows are in Kannada, unless otherwise noted.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shruti.

• Shruti at IMDb
• Sruthi at MSI