From cabin crew to actor: Harini gets candid on her journey

New Indian Express

17 hours ago

Driven by passion and persistence, actor Harini has quietly carved her path in the film industry with hits like Lover, Chilli Chicken, and Pathinettam Padi. With her latest release, Vritta, she reaffirms her identity as a multilingual performer. In the psychological thriller, directed by Likith Kumar, Harini plays the role of the protagonist's old flame.
'It's a small role, but a crucial one. I'm a catalyst in the story's emotional arc,' she shares with the excitement of marking a space in the Kannada film industry. 'To understand a language and get the rhythms and intonations right while delivering emotions through the lines, which are alien to me, is a challenge I enjoy,' Harini adds.
Hailing from Chennai and growing up in a conservative family, the idea of becoming an actor was a far-off dream for her. 'I've always wanted to act, but I didn't know I would be able to make it,' she reminisces.
Pressured by expectations of conventional professions and initially taking different career paths like journalism, it was while helping her friends with visual communication projects that she found herself before the camera. 'The moment I stood there, I just knew. This is what I had to do, and I felt it so strongly in the core of my being; not just from my brain but from my heart,' she says.
Her first steps into acting came through short films and music videos during her student years, shot in secrecy, with no expectations. But destiny, or as she calls it, the 'butterfly effect of serendipity', had a different plan. It was during her stint as cabin crew in Bengaluru that Harini landed her first role in Malayalam film Pathinettam Padi, through a friend she met in the city. From there, her journey expanded across multiple languages, helping her explore human emotions from many cultural lenses. 'Despite all the differences, whether cultural, regional, or even religious, like languages, there lies a thread of similarity that ties all of us as human beings. And cinema as an art form tries to explore that, even while focusing on one particular area or while depicting one region's story, which appeals to the commonness of the human experience,' she stresses.
Harini's characters often reflect real, familiar individuals. She cites Anu from Chilli Chicken as a personal favourite – a woman battling everyday struggles just to live with dignity. Despite six years in the industry, Harini acknowledges that sustaining solely through acting is still a challenge. From typecasting to lack of visibility, she's honest about the hurdles of aspiring actors: 'There's so much rejection. But most of the time, it has nothing to do with your talent. You just don't fit someone's checklist.'
A trained Bharatanatyam dancer and Carnatic singer, Harini dreams of exploring physically demanding roles – like a sports biopic or an action film. 'The roles I play are like waves of the ocean, which is me, and the only thing I want more than anything is to not be put in a box,' she says.