Shruti Haasan has opened up about the challenges of dealing with painful periods while working on film sets, recalling how she once wished men could experience periods so that menstrual leave could become a formal part of work contracts.
During a conversation with Soha Ali Khan on her podcast, Shruti discussed the misconceptions surrounding hormones and menstruation and how difficult it was for her to talk about period pain during the early years of her career.
At one point, the actor joked that she had repeatedly wished men could experience periods too.
“I mean, there’s only one solution to this, and I prayed about it a thousand times that men get periods. And then we’d have, like, period holidays written into our contract,” Shruti said.
Soha agreed with the idea, adding humorously that men might then compete over how much they bled or the size of their tampons.
Shruti Haasan Says She Struggled to Discuss Period Pain on Film Sets
Shruti also spoke about her experience with painful periods, which she associated with her PCOS diagnosis.
According to the actor, discussing menstruation was particularly difficult when she was starting out because it was not something people openly talked about on film sets.
She explained that directors and colleagues could notice that she appeared different or had less energy on certain days, but they often did not know why.
Shruti believes being open about what she was experiencing could have made working conditions more collaborative.
“Yes, I will do it, but it would be so much more collaborative if you knew what I was going through,” she recalled.
A Co-Star’s Knee Surgery Changed Her Perspective
Shruti said she began thinking differently about communicating her physical discomfort after seeing how a co-star’s knee problem was handled on set.
She recalled that when the actor mentioned having undergone knee surgery, the crew immediately considered how the shoot could be adjusted around the problem.
“And then I noticed, one of my co-stars was like, you know, I’ve had that knee surgery. And they were like, oh okay, so let’s work around this. And I was like, I have my period. It’s literally how it started,” Shruti said.
The experience helped her realise that communicating menstrual pain did not necessarily have to mean asking for special treatment. Instead, it could allow the team to make practical adjustments when necessary.
Her First Conversation With a Director About Periods
Shruti also recalled the first time she directly told a director that she was experiencing period-related discomfort.
According to the actor, the director’s response made the conversation feel less awkward because he had a daughter who also experienced severe menstrual cramps.
“The first time I told a director, he has a daughter, and he said she also has very bad cramps. It just changed the colour,” she said.
For Shruti, that moment illustrated how a previously uncomfortable conversation could become easier once people approached menstruation as a normal health and workplace issue rather than a taboo subject.
Shruti Haasan’s Recent and Upcoming Work
Shruti was last seen in Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Coolie, which released in 2025 and starred Rajinikanth in the lead role. The ensemble cast also included Nagarjuna Akkineni, Soubin Shahir, Upendra, Sathyaraj and Rachita Ram, while Aamir Khan appeared in a cameo and Pooja Hegde featured in a special song.
Shruti also featured in the song Hellallallo from Buchi Babu Sana’s Peddi, alongside Ram Charan and Janhvi Kapoor.
The actor has several projects lined up across South Indian cinema. Her upcoming Tamil film Train, directed by Mysskin, stars Vijay Sethupathi.
She is also part of the Telugu project Aakasamlo Oka Tara, directed by Pavan Sadineni and featuring Dulquer Salmaan and Satvika Veeravalli in lead roles.
