Shruti Marathe

Shruti married actor Gaurav Ghatnekar in 2016. She sometimes goes by the name Shruti Prakash or Hema Malini while acting in South Indian films. In 2012, she decided to take a break from acting in Tamil films and decided to act full-time in Marathi industry as she found it difficult to act in those films due to lack of fluency in Tamil language and Marathi being her mother tongue. She had hired a tutor to teach her Tamil not for learning for scenes' dialogues but to interact with people and staff on sets. In 2019, Shruti revealed that she was trolled on social media when she just entered the Marathi film industry but this trolling turned into appreciation. While shooting for the Tamil film Guru Sishyan in 2010, she had worn a bikini for the song "Kathara Kathara" in that film. The film had received negative reviews and did poorly but was mainly remembered for that bikini scene in that song. She mentioned that she was asked to wear one and she readily agreed and said that she hadn't even considered questions like how was it going to be shot or whether it was required or not, as all that mattered to her was the opportunity to be part of that film. The fact that she had worked in a Tamil film and worn a bikini had gone under the radar as according to her back then South Indian films didn't make much news outside of those states as compared to today where accessibility to news about South Indian films is easy thanks to social media, OTT platforms and theaters. However, when she did her first Marathi daily soap Radha Hi Bawari in 2012 and gained fame in many households, many people out of curiosity started searching about her on the Internet with the first photo showing up of her in a bikini in a pool from one of those still photos of that film. Right after the first episode of the serial, she was heavily trolled on social media for those photos and the scene especially for the way it was shot. She was even bodyshamed for her weight in the beginning but she kept working as if that incident didn't bother her even though she was objectified on social media. Later on as the serial went on, she began to receive appreciation and love for her acting. She is also a member of a Nashik Dhol pathak (squad) named Kalavanta Dhol Tasha Pathak in Pune since 10 years. Every Ganpati festival, she goes there to participate in the visarjan (immersion) procession religiously. Her photos of her playing the dhol had become famous in 2022 and a year later she revealed that due to those photos she bagged a role in the 2024 Telugu-language film Devara: Part 1 thus making her Tollywood debut. Koratala Siva later explained that he chose her because he didn't want an actress to look like a second heroine in the film. He further added that he had been searching for an actress who complemented Devara's personality. He then clarified that if he had cast any reputed actor then perhaps their image would have sidelined the role. == Career ==