Shruti (born Girija; 18 September 1975), is an Indian actress, television personality and politician. She is known for her work predominantly in Kannada language films and in a few Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi and Tulu films. She has appeared in more than 160 films, out of which she has been cast in leading role in over 130 films. More than half of the movies are female-oriented, thereby making her one of the very few actresses in Indian cinema to have been successfully cast in more number of heroine oriented movies. She has won three Karnataka State Film Awards, one Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and four Filmfare Awards South in her illustrious career spanning over 35 years.

Shruti was among the leading actresses in Kannada cinema during the 1990s and early 2000s who featured in the lead roles in several commercially successful, female centric and critically acclaimed films such as Shruthi (1990), Muddina Maava (1993), Aagatha (1995), Karpoorada Gombe, Kalki (both 1996), Gowdru (2004), Rama Shama Bhama (2005), Akka Thangi (2008) and Puttakkana Highway (2011). In the later years, she switched to character roles and won laurels for her performances in Kalpana (2012), Gombegala Love (2013), Rathnan Prapancha, Bhajarangi 2 (both 2021), Kaatera (2023) and Maadeva (2025). She is the only actress in Kannada cinema to have been portrayed successfully in all sorts of roles such as the emotional roles, comedy roles and villain.

Shruti is the sister of actor Sharan. In 2016, she won the third season of the reality television show Bigg Boss Kannada. She has continued to appear in Television as a judge for reality shows such as Majaa Talkies and Kwaatle Kitchen.

Shruti joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2008. She was made the chairperson of the Karnataka Women and Child Development Corporation before being removed in 2009. In 2013, she joined the Karnataka Janata Paksha which eventually merged in 2014 with BJP. She also served as chief secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party's women's wing in its Karnataka cadre. In 2020, she was appointed as the Chairperson of Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation.

Shruti was born as Girija on 18 September 1975 into a family of Kannada theatre artists in Bangalore, Karnataka. Her father G. V. Krishna owned a theatre company and married twin sisters Radha and Rukmini who had joined his troupe as artists. Shruti's elder brother Sharan is a leading actor in Kannada cinema, while her sister Usha is younger to her. Since they have two mothers, the subject about who is their biological mother has generated curiosity among the media and public over the years. However, both Sharan and Shruti have asserted that they consider both to be their biological mother. Shruti spent most of her early life in Puttur where she pursued her basic schooling.

At the age of 14, Shruti landed in her first film in a supporting role in S. Umesh's romantic comedy film, Nambidre Nambi Bitre Bidi, released in 1990. She was credited as Priyadarshini by the makers so as not to be confused with another actress Girija Lokesh. Her next role came through another comedy film, Aasegobba Meesegobba released in the same year where she played sister to actor Shiva Rajkumar. However, her breakthrough came in the same year with the film Shruthi, which was directed by Dwarakish who rechristened her name as Shruti. She played the titular role of a struggling singer who is aided by four men to achieve her dreams. The film, which was a remake of Tamil film, Pudhu Vasantham, had a successful theatrical run of over 25 weeks.

Following this, Shruti featured in a series of comedy films out of which Gauri Ganesha, Punda Prachanda (both 1991), Bombat Hendthi, Edurmaneli Ganda Pakkadmaneli Hendthi (both 1992) were successful projects. She expanded into Tamil and Telugu cinema in 1992 with Devar Veettu Ponnu and Pellaniki Premalekha Priyuraliki Subhalekha respectively. She followed this by playing second lead roles in films such as C. B. I. Shiva, Sindhoora Thilaka, Shambhavi, Ksheera Sagara and Dakshayini. She later took up family drama films such as Alimayya, Sri Durga Pooje, Midida Hrudayagalu and Muddina Maava, all released in 1993.

In 1994, she appeared in two films opposite V. Ravichandran, Rasika, directed by Dwarakish, and Jaana. Her other notable performance came through Rashmi in the same year. She went on to win her first Filmfare Award for her performance in the drama film, Hettha Karulu. In 1995, She won her first Karnakata State Film Award and second Filmfare Award for her critically acclaimed role in Aagatha, directed by Suresh Heblikar. During the same period, she shared screen with actor Vishnuvardhan in films such as Time Bomb (1994), Thumbida Mane and Mojugara Sogasugara (both 1995).