Shriya Saran loves to learn, travel and explore. She is not just a perfectionist and a positive person, but is also fearless, a diehard romantic and deeply emotional.

And while she can be stubborn and opinionated, she is not snooty. She loves to party and can switch on and off from her character, but is deeply into Vipassana that has kept her going through all her ups and downs.

While she loves her mother the most in the world, her father is her emotional anchor who also manages her work. While she has been a part of many big South films,Drishyamis her first big Hindi film. Over an hour-long conversation at her home over a cup of coffee and yummy chickpeas kebabs made by her mother, she talks to Bombay Times about what most impressed her about Ajay Devgn, how Tabu caught her lies and what she looks for in a husband. Excerpts:

`We are Kayasthas from UP (her original full name is Shriya Saran Bhatnagar). My dad Pushpinder Saran is a civil engineer who worked for BHEL, till he retired a few years back. I was therefore born and brought up in BHEL Haridwar. My mom was a chemistry teacher.`

My introduction to films was through the open air theatre at BHEL called Jhankaar. I was mad about Kathak and wanted to learn from Shovana Narayan. We came and met her in Delhi and she agreed to take me as a student. My mother and I moved to Delhi when I was 14 so that I could study and learn Kathak. I joined DPS, Mathura Road, and lived in a small teacher's apartment there with my mother. My mother would drive me to my dance class at Pandara Road every day. Later my father too took a transfer to Delhi. I used to perform with Shovana didi's dance troupe all over India and would travel with her. Someone was making a music video in Varanasi for which they approached Shovana didi. She recommended me for it. I auditioned for it and got selected. That video, one of the Telugu filmmakers saw and I got my first Telugu film. But I got my first break from Nagarjuna who gave me my second filmSantoshamopposite him. That became a big hit. I then also did a big Tamil filmSivaji-The Bosswith Rajinikanth that was a huge hit. I came to be known as a Rajinikanth actress and started getting films across the four South languages. I can now speak all the four South languages.Drishyamis my biggest Bollywood film.