My name comes in the way for Shruti: Kamal Haasan

Tamil thespian Kamal Haasan says his name is a “disadvantage” for his daughter Shruti Haasan but “she will have to live with it”.

“It is certainly a disadvantage for her, but she’ll have to work with it that she is my daughter. She can’t change it and she’ll have to live with it and carry that luggage. And I’ll always be there to support her,” said Kamal.But the 54-year-old is all praises for his daughter who is making her Bollywood debut with Luck.

“She’s an extraordinary girl and I am not talking as her father. I observed her myself at an audition and I was really impressed. I hope there are many more who think like that. She’s found her own niche and is going in the right direction,” he added.

Shruti, 23, is the eldest of two daughters born to Kamal and actress Sarika and has a professional degree in music from the Musicians Institute, California. She has also learnt “North Indian classical music,” said Kamal.Not many know that she debuted as a playback singer at the age of six, in Thevar Magan (1992) and her first Bollywood playback came in Chachi 420 (1998).

Her second Hindi song came in Hey Ram (2000), in which she sung the bilingual versions of the title track Rama Rama with her father, in both Hindi and Tamil. She also made a brief appearance in Hey Ram.

Her last released film song was in Gautham Menon’s Vaaranam Aayiram. Apart from singing, Shruti has also been a model and featured in magazines like Frappe! and Verve.Shruti, who also heads the rock band Extramentals, has teamed up with childhood friend and actor Imran Khan in Soham Shah’s Luck.

Apart from Bollywood, she is also making her debut as a music composer in Thalaivan Irukkiraan, her father’s home production Rajkamal Films International’s remake of A Wednesday in Tamil and Telugu respectively.

“She has already recorded a song for the film and it’s come out really well,” said Kamal.

On being asked if he guides his daughter on her career, Kamal said: “I don’t advise her nor do we discuss our films with each other. We do discuss films on the whole and the kind of music I want for my film - that’s it.” Besides films, Shruti is also going to cut her debut album this year.