Shreya Dhanwanthary, who recently marked the release of her new film 'Chup: Revenge of the Artist', went through a long period of struggle before she found her footing in the entertainment industry. She recently shared that she faced several financial struggles and was even on the brink of homelessness during this time.
Shreya moved to the Middle East with her parents when she was just a few months old and spent her life in Dubai, Bahrain and Qatar before returning to India to pursue engineering. However, she always wanted to be an actor and decided to focus on making a career in the entertainment industry.
"It was ridiculously difficult. Wanting to be in films was a part of me that I kept secret from my other secrets because I thought it was so ridiculous and unachievable for someone like me. I can't quite believe that I am here," she told a popular 'YouTube' channel.
She added that she still doesn't feel she has made it.
As her 'Chup' co-star Dulquer said, "But you didn't take that long," Shreya clarified, "You had a 10-year career. I took 10 years to make my first film."
"Don't ask me how I did it. I don't know how I did it. I don't know how I stayed here and how I continued staying here by not having the money, almost being homeless and staying hungry for a long time. I don't know how I did it, some sort of psychosis for sure," she added.
Shreya participated in 'Femina Miss India South 2008' when she was pursuing engineering and went on to compete in Miss India 2008, where she was a finalist. She appeared in Telugu films 'Josh' (2009) and Sneha Geetham (2010). She made her Bollywood debut 10 years later with Emraan Hashmi-starrer 'Why Cheat India' and gained more recognition with her work in the 'Prime Video' series 'The Family Man' and 'SonyLIV' series 'Scam 1992' later that year with 'Looop Lapeta' (2022) and other projects.