Many people will be able to relate to Cheat India

Newcomer Shreya Dhanwanthary is making her Bollywood debut in Soumik Sen’s upcoming film Cheat India. The film stars Emraan Hashmi in the role of a fraudster who earns money by rigging entrance examinations to engineering and management colleges. The film addresses the serious issue of corruption in the Indian education system and how aspiring students from lower-income groups fall prey to it. 

Speaking about her early life and career, Shreya recalled, “My dad was in aviation, so we moved around all over the world. Growing up, I did a lot of theatre. In mid-2000s, we moved back to Delhi for my higher education.

I did electronics engineering from NIT Warangal; Soon after, I did a Telugu film called Sneha Geetham (2010). It was directed by Madhura Sreedhar Reddy, a college senior of mine.” 

Shreya moved to Mumbai in 2012-2013 and started modelling alongside auditioning for feature films. She also worked in advertising. Despite having debuted in a Telugu film before, the 27-year-old actor had to go through rigorous casting rounds and face multiple rejections before landing her big break in Cheat India. 

“No matter how talented you are, you always need someone else on the other side taking a chance on you. That finally happened with this film after some rounds of auditions and a look test. I also liked my role in it. My character is a simple, lower-middle class girl in Lucknow who connects with Emraan’s character,” she said.

When asked how she felt about the problem depicted in the film, Shreya said that the education scam in India needs urgent attention. “I am an engineer, so I know how terrible the situation is. Kids are preparing from sixth to seventh standard to get into IITs.

There are these coaching institutes that are famous for getting you admission into premiere colleges. But to get into these institutes, there’s another set of institutes and tutorials you must attend. It’s unbelievable. I feel a lot of people will relate to the film.”