Shruti Haasan is one proud geek. She does serious Nintendo time, adores the X-Men and describes Batman as her dream man. Earlier this week she spent eight happy hours rediscovering the 1980s cartoon series Jem and the Holograms on YouTube. “It was my favourite show when I was growing up. Jem is this rock star by night who transforms into girl-next-door Jerrica by day. Only no one knows they’re the same person,” she tells me excitedly.

It’s easy to figure why Jem fascinates Shruti. Straddling the girly exuberance of a 22-year-old with her prodigious musical talent, she can relate to Jem’s inherent duality. Like most her age, Shruti loves to chill out with friends, work out, watch movies and party till she gets sore on her Choos. But her phenomenal pedigree, inherited good looks and strikingly original compositions far outweigh the ‘ordinary’ elements of her life.

The multifaceted artiste—she writes her own songs, sings, plays the piano and tabla—has performed at big-ticket venues like Whiskey A Go Go in Los Angeles and Hard Rock Café in Mumbai. Rolling Stone India’s debut issue featured her as the new artiste to watch for. Acclaimed world musician Susheela Raman, with whom Shruti gigged in Chennai earlier this year, told this writer that Shruti has the makings of a major international star with an attitude to boot. All this before the launch of her debut album.

On this day rock star Shruti Haasan takes centre stage as she oozes star quality at the Verve photo shoot. The 5 feet 8 inch beauty—she wins our vote for the new Miss Legs in showbiz—does full justice to the funky shorts, natty waistcoats, bomber jackets and chunky chains sourced for her by our stylists. The tattoos on Shruti’s ankle and back — her name inked in — and her trademark black nail paint bring a unique touch of personal style to the ensembles. Make-up ace Brendon works on an edgily pretty look. The dewy youthfulness of Shruti’s skin is offset by the drama of her sexily slanted eyes and glossy nude mouth. The hair is jaggedly tiered. A mike and guitar add the final touch.

Watching her svelte frame arch against a giant set of speakers, I realise there’s something inevitable about Shruti’s stardom. Kamal Haasan and Saarika’s daughter, whose name means music in Sanskrit, sung her first song for the legendary Illaiyaraaja for her father’s film Thevar Magan when she was all of six. Shruti believes she landed at the recording studio by accident and just happened to sing that day. “Or maybe it was dad trying to initiate me into music.” A distinct possibility since ‘dad’ was instrumental in Shruti singing tracks for his Chachi 420 and Hey! Ram and continues to be “both her strongest supporter and biggest critic”.

Shruti, who discovered Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan and The Who early thanks to her father, is grateful for growing up in an environment where her talent was nurtured at every stage. She recalls how mom Saarika urged her to learn Indian classical when she was deep into heavy metal. And though the decision to go to LA to study music at Musicians Institute was her own, “it would never have been possible without dad firmly believing in it.” Today she also shares a special bond with Kamal Haasan’s companion, Gautami, whom she describes as an “amazingly wonderful person”.

Wary of labels, the pretty artiste prefers the umbrella term ‘alternative’ to describe her eclectic music. “There’s bits of a lot of things, like a nice salad. I’d call it alternative rock with Indian influences and some industrial rhythmic.” For the most part, she likes to think of music as an emotional and cathartic experience. “Music is like my blind spot. It’s my healing place,” says the intense musician who lists Tori Amos, Madonna, NIN, Nick Drake and Messhugah as her favourites.

Happily, for all the brooding angst and heartbreak that imbue her rich lyrics, Shruti’s personality radiates positivity and spunk. Rebellion is a positive thing—“it means rebelling against your limitations”. Darkness is a good place—“you don’t see the light till you see the darkness.” And “no matter what things will be good”. By her own admission, she has this “disease” of trying to like something in everything. “It just makes my life easier.”

The four English tracks she has up on her MySpace page stand out for their subtlety and freshness. Shruti’s powerful singing recalls Fiona Apple and Aimee Mann. As I catch some of Shruti’s recent compositions on her iTunes, I realise her music has evolved since her return from the US, revealing more pronounced Indian influences. My favourite is the ambient Asathoma which resounds with the power of shlokas. But Shruti’s partial to Biraj, a Hindustani classical song she made her own with original lyrics in English. “For me Biraj is the journey of coming back home. When you live away from home, you realise how much you take your security and freedom for granted. Home isn’t just a place. It’s the earth. It’s the way India smells and sounds.”

Aware of the global potential of her music, Shruti is definitely looking at an audience beyond the Indian market. “Maybe I’ll be the first musical export to the international music world,” she laughs. So what made her return to India? “I think it’s lovely for me to come back home and start here. Take Johnny Cash’s example. Everybody thought he was the best thing to happen to music. But he went home and till the very end his dad thought he was crappy. I believe no matter where you go in life, you’ve got to start at home. I want Indians to say, ‘We love that Shruti is from India.’ Somehow that makes a huge difference to me.”

More than half way through her first album, Shruti wants her music-making to be an organic journey. “I don’t want to rush a good thing. I’m still contemplating a lot of things because my music is the most important thing to me. For me a debut isn’t about showing people I can sing. I’ve always been doing that in my bedroom and in front of my bathroom mirror. So an official launch doesn’t count a lot. But I’ll always be really humble to the people who listen to my music.”