American cinema debut (2008–2012)
In 2008, Saran made her American cinema debut in Ashok Amritraj's The Other End of the Line. She played the role of Priya Sethi, who works as a telephone operator in an Indian call centre, while acting alongside Jesse Metcalfe, Anupam Kher and Tara Sharma. Shriya's performance was praised by critics, particularly her on-screen chemistry with Jesse Metcalfe. John Anderson, writing for Variety magazine, said it was "a winning Stateside debut for beautiful Indian actress Shriya Saran."
Saran acted in the Hindi film Mission Istaanbul with Zayed Khan, and Shabbir Ahluwalia in 2008. She played the character of Anjali Sagar which was inspired by the character of Romila Dutta played by Preity Zinta in the film Lakshya, a journalist who desires to have a child with her husband, which leads to their separation, since he is reluctant. Bollywood Hungama critics said that her character was wasted, as again she gets very little screen time. However, she did pick up the Stardust Exciting New Face Award.
Her most important 2009 release was the commercially successful Tamil film Kanthaswamy, alongside Vikram. She earned a nomination at the Vijay Awards. Vikram said in an interview that her role was on par with his, and she easily stole the show on most occasions. Of her character in the film, Saran said that it was the best she has done so far. Also that year she appeared as the female lead in Thoranai. A reviewer said that her glamour and the songs were the only high points of the film. For Thoranai and Kanthaswamy together, she received her third award win, the Amrita Mathrubhumi Award for Best Actress. She then appeared in another English film, Cooking with Stella, which is a comedy that takes a look at the serious nature of relationships between servants and employers. It was selected for the Toronto International Film Festival, which Saran attended.
In 2010, Saran made her Malayalam debut with Pokkiri Raja, in which she appeared opposite Mammootty and Prithviraj. The film broke the record in Malayalam cinema for opening week gross income, though it was not received well critically. It was said of Saran that all she had to do was look pretty. She then enacted her first lead role in a Telugu film after five years, in the commercially successful action-comedy Don Seenu opposite Ravi Teja, where she plays the sister of a mobster. In the opinion of some critics, she stole the show with her dances and romantic scenes.
The year 2010 was her second busiest after 2005, having appeared in eight films, this time in four languages.
In 2011, Saran appeared in Rowthiram, where she worked with Tamil actor Jiiva for the first time. The film received fairly low reviews. Although some reviews said that Saran was not given much opportunity to show her acting skills, mainly just adding a romantic touch to a mostly violent film, she was referred to by another as the pivot around which the film revolves. Her performance earned her Best Actress Award at the International Tamil Film Awards. Her only other film in 2011 was a special appearance in a song for the Tamil film Rajapattai.
Saran's first release of 2012 was her second Malayalam project, Casanovva, co-starring Mohanlal and directed by Rosshan Andrrews. The movie was delayed many times, and it was rumoured that Saran would leave the project, but in October 2010, the producer of the film announced that shooting would commence in Dubai with Shriya Saran among the cast. It was released on 26 January. Her next release was in Gali Gali Chor Hai, from director Rumy Jafry, which began shooting in September 2011, and released on 3 February. She then was seen in the critically average comedic Telugu film Nuvva Nena, with actors Allari Naresh and Sharwanand, followed by Sekhar Kammula's much delayed Life is Beautiful.
Saran has starred in Deepa Mehta's long delayed English project Midnight's Children, which is based on Salman Rushdie's highly acclaimed novel of the same name. It was filmed under the working title of Winds of Change. It was screened at several film festivals in late 2012 in Canada and had its general release in India on 1 February 2013.
