The Story Behind Hariprriya!

So not a lot of you know that my birth name is Shruthi, but those of you that do know, have been asking me why I have changed my name to Hariprriya. I was in 11th grade when I was first offered a role in a Tulu film ( Why and How I entered movies will be another write up). If you watch my first Tulu movie called ‘Badi’, you will notice that in the rolling credits, they have written my birth name Shruthi.

While working for Badi movie , I got offers from the Kannada industry as well , so the CO-Director of Badi, Sudhakar Bannanje, suggested that I change my name when I was going through the script. There was already a renowned actress named Shruthi, who had been in the Kannada industry since before I was born. He suggested my mother change my name to something starting with the letter ‘H’, as he specialized in astrology too. I was very open to the idea as not a lot of people get to choose their names. They are named as a baby, and are stuck with that name unless they decide to change it. They have to go through a lot of procedures to change a name, by the way. They made a list of names starting from the letter H. I went through the list as they started to pick a few names out of the list, which I really didn’t like. So, I stopped them before they could continue and told them that I would not answer to them if they chose a name from the names they selected. Finally, I went through the names and chose the name Hariprriya.🤩 I loved the name Hariprriya because of the positive vibes I felt and the meaning behind the name, Lakshmi (Lakshmi was precious to Lord Hari).

Now when I think about it, I feel strange knowing Hariprriya did not exist 12 years ago, Shruthi did and still does. I’m loved and identified by lakhs of people with the name Hariprriya, but a part of me hurts that my father doesn’t know or hasn’t called me by that name. I long for him to call me Hariprriya at least once. I can imagine him looking at me from up there while smiling at me and whispering my name. Anyways, after I changed my name, they started showing Hariprriya in the rolling credits from my first Kannada movie onwards. The funny part is that I never responded to my family when they called me by the name Harripriya because I was so used to them calling me Shruthi..Haha! So, Till date my mother, brother and relatives call me Shruthi. Both my names are very dear to me and I can’t let go of either one. In my personal life I will always be Shruthi, but on screen, I will always be your dear Hariprriya. ❤️

-Hariprriya