Shruti Haasan on Kamal Haasan: "I Think He Is Genuinely Unimpressed by Me", and Why She Never Sought His Validation
"If I get 99, he will ask why I didn't get that one mark."
It is a sentence that a great many Indian children would recognise. What makes it notable is who said it, and about whom.
Shruti Haasan, appearing on Double Date, the show hosted by Neha Dhupia and Angad Bedi, was describing her father, Kamal Haasan.
On validation
Asked whether she looks to her father for approval, Shruti was direct:
"I don't look for validation from anyone. Not from my dad, wo toh dete hi nahi. My dad is a regular Indian guy. He is the one who, if I get 99, will ask why I didn't get that one mark! He is not some ordinary overachiever. I think he is genuinely unimpressed by me."
Neha Dhupia pressed further: was this because Kamal Haasan has seen so much in life, or was it something specific to her? Shruti deflected with a laugh, calling Dhupia an "evil therapist".
The remark lightened the moment, but the observation beneath it is a serious one. Children of exceptional parents often describe a particular difficulty. Ordinary praise is hard to win from someone whose own standards are extraordinary.
On independence
The more striking part of the conversation concerned money, and the boundary her father drew around it.
Shruti said she has not taken financial support from him since the day she left home. The one exception was her education:
"I am very thankful that the last thing my dad paid for was my music education in America because that was something I could not afford at the age of 19. He also said, 'Education, yes. If you want to study till 50 years, I will pay. Everything else is your problem because it's your life. If you live out of my house, then you pay the bill and you live your life.' And literally, the day I stepped out, I didn't look back."
It is a clear philosophy, and an unusual one in an industry often accused of smoothing the path for its children. Education was treated as an inheritance; everything else had to be earned.
Reading between the lines
What emerges is less a story of distance than of a particular kind of respect. A father who withholds easy praise, and a daughter who has stopped needing it. Whether that is admirable or exacting probably depends on which side of the 99 you are standing.
Shruti has since built a career of her own as an actor and singer, across languages and across both film and music. On the evidence of this conversation, she seems to regard that independence as the most valuable thing she was given.
For more on how celebrities are using conversation-led formats to speak more directly to audiences, see our analysis of why stars are moving to YouTube.
This article draws on information shared by the show's publicists.
Frequently asked questions
What did Shruti Haasan say about Kamal Haasan on Double Date?
She said she does not seek validation from her father and joked that he is "genuinely unimpressed" by her, comparing him to a parent who asks why a child scored 99 instead of 100.
Did Kamal Haasan support Shruti financially?
Shruti said the last thing her father paid for was her music education in America, and that she has supported herself since leaving home.
Who hosts Double Date?
Double Date is hosted by Neha Dhupia and Angad Bedi.
Kenneth Hopkins is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of AltBollywood. Indofuturist, posthumanist and unapologetically Indocentric, he describes himself as an epimemeticist, a swaraji, a freakonomist, a lexicographer and a cartochronicler, mapping the ideas, words and quiet shifts that shape Indian entertainment. Follow him on Instagram at @kennethhopkins.
Comments