We had a lively chat in the artistically and aesthetically set ambience of her juice shop at Adyar, Chennai.
She enthusiastically narrated the various ventures she has been involved in over the years “I graduated from BITS, Pilani with a masters in Physics and a masters in Management and was working in Pune when my cousin sister Suhasini Manirathnam called me and offered me the role in the movie ‘Indra’. I took it up as a challenge to test my acting capabilities and that was a great experience for me. Then I followed my childhood dream of being an entrepreneur and started a marketing company in Calcutta. After building the business and making it a private limited firm, I landed back in Chennai and joined Kamal Haasan’s ‘Mumbai Express’ team. I worked as line producer for that film taking charge of schedules, hiring equipment and post production activities. Then I got back to acting in both the big and small screens.
Last year I was itching to start a business of my own again and went to Australia to do research about hygienic juice making and opened a juice shop ‘Squash’d along with two friends. We are unique for we make our own ice cubes from Bisleri water with the machinery we have. The first store was in Adyar, Chennai. We started this place in Adyar as a training outlet but then converted it also into a shop as there was a popular demand. We tested our combinations on more than 200 people and got their feedback on it. Currently we have four stores at Adyar, Egmore, Cognizant campus and the Mayajaal complex. I also see it as an avenue for doing some social contribution for we have employed only women. ‘Koffee with Anu’ came my way around the same time and I find it very exciting and interesting because it gives me the chance to meet a lot of achievers and have an interaction with them personally.”
Recalling memorable experiences in her life she said “During the shooting of the movie Indra, I got completely involved. I remember the scene where I faced the villain of the movie really believing I was living the role of Indra. That commitment which I carried in my role helped me do well and also the movie became a success, winning awards.” She added that another significant turning point in her life came when she was pursuing her graduation “Being a topper in school, I got carried away and took studies in Pilani very lightly in the beginning. When the first semester exams were approaching, I got scared and to gain sympathy I called my parents and gave them a sob story. They refused to be taken in by my melodrama. Both of them clearly told me that they had sent me there to learn about the realities of life and I was left to face the exams and succeed. That played an important part in shaping my personality.”
Talking about family she said her parents Chandrahasan and Githamani were fantastic, always been a rock when she needed support and never been sympathetic when it would be detrimental to her life.
Anu Hasan concluded saying “I give my heart and soul to all my endeavours in life and then if any one does not click I have no regrets; I am very practical, I drop it and move on in life. I don’t fear failures and I want to remain happy always”. No wonder this highly energetic woman carries an aura of dynamism and radiates charm and cheer. For her, life is truly a gift not confined to a few options but open with unlimited choices to be executed and thereby painting different strokes along the path trodden.
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