Life Of Pi girl Shravanthi Sainath is busiest during weekends. While studies keep this young dancer-turned-actress from Chennai busy during weekdays, she mostly keeps her film events and stage performances for weekends. Shravanthi is one among a bunch of a city students, including Ahaana Krishna, who made her debut in a recent Malayalam movie, and Shilvi Sharon, a singer, who is also making her acting debut with James Vasanthan’s Vaanavil Vaazhkai, who manage to balance both their professional artistic assignments and college studies.
According to these youngsters, they enjoy a feeling of freedom and at the same time, a sense of responsibility. “As part of my curriculum, I get to do a lot of photography assignments. So, whenever I get to click photos with the camera I bought with my own money, it is a special feeling,” says Shravanthi, who is a visual communication student.
Roshni Sharon, a fine arts student, is another young artist like Shravanthi. She sings choruses for several Kollywood music directors. She says the challenge is to manage time. “My studies are as important as music. Therefore, I mostly finish assignments before I leave from college and keep myself free during evenings to attend recordings,” she says.
Not so different is the case of Ahaana. This second-year visual communication student says, “I chose this course myself. So, I make it a point to somehow make up for the classes I miss due to film commitments.” Ask her if college friends treat her as a star, and she chuckles, “They say ‘every time we see you on screen, we’ll throw popcorn’.”
For theatre artist and engineering student Shyam Renganathan, it is the time he spends in college that helps him write scripts. Recently, he acted in a TV commercial as well. He claims that most of his scripts revolve around the life of engineering students. “They have everything from silliness and craziness to frustrations arising out of the campus life,” he says.
Shilvi says her course itself is helpful for her professional works. “We learn both audiography and video production. Therefore, it helps me understand the technicalities of both acting and singing better.”
Shravanthi seconds Shilvi and adds, “My course, too, gives a good exposure to behind-the-camera details. A few years down the line, I want to direct a movie.” She is now busy wrapping up the shoot of a bilingual film.