After making her debut opposite Vicky Kaushal in Neeraj Ghayawan’s Masaan, Shweta Tripathi has come a long way in her acting career, through her breakthrough performances in films varying in genres. From Haraamkhor to Mirzapur, Gone Kesh to Made In Heaven, the actress certainly has a penchant for choosing characters that being about a larger discourse for the society. Hence, her character in recently released web series KaalKoot is a perfect example of that. During a freewheeling chat with News18 Showsha, Shweta Tripathi opened up about playing an acid-attack victim, reuniting with Vijay Varma and more. Excerpts:
How do you feel about the response towards your character in Kaalkoot?
It feels very good. As an actor, the reason I choose any script is because I connect with it. And I become a part because I want to be that connection between the writers/directors and the audience, the weapon in the dialogues. For me, purity of intent is very important. And when that is appreciated, it feels good. The whole point of doing Kaalkoot was to start a conversation, to talk about uncomfortable things, so that they become normal. It is wrong if we continue to ignore things because they are not happening with us. We live in a community, a society and I think we should take responsibility not just for ourselves but for each other as well. So, if something is wrong, we need to call it out. People are not only watching the show in terms of entertainment but are taking away something with them. And I hope a discussion starts about it — about masculinity, what is a good girl, what is a bad girl, how soon we jump to conclusions and cast our aspersions.
How did you connect with Parul and what was your approach for that character?
I just tried to hold on to the emotional graft because when such a heinous crime happens, then there is Parul that was before that incident and then there is Parul after that incident. Because, so much of it has changed and not only physically but it affects your relationships with people you know and those you’ll come to know. Because before anyone talks to you, they have already made their decisions about you. So understanding all of that, I hope I have done some justice to it.
Do you feel OTT is dismantling the notion that actors and vanity go hand in hand? Something that we don’t see in Bollywood?
It’s all about demand and supply. If there are consumers, then there will be that. So if you want to see that thing, as an audience, even we have the power, we have the responsibility to show the kind of stories, the kind of actors you watch the most. Those actors will make the most money, those actors will have the choice. Because if the actor believes in Kaalkoot and you don’t have money to pay, then you are forced to take a project that you don’t believe in. As an artist, that purity is very important. That is what I stand for, to do the kind of stories for all the right reasons. So if makeup and glamour excites you, go for it. But don’t let the trend decide what you should do and not do. Learn from the trend and make your own trend. If you don’t like makeup, you don’t have to do it. There are so many people who say that they feel confident due to vanity. Then it works for you. As long as it’s not making you feel insecure when you are not. It’s nice to see things that are pleasing to the eyes and there’s no denying that. At the end of the day, the character decides how you should look and not what I want or what the trend is.
Both Shalu from Masaan and Parul from Kaalkoot turned towards poetry to express themselves. Did you draw any parallels between the two?
I think poetry is a great connection. It simplifies all those heavy and complicated emotions and lets you express them in a more easy manner. So that’s the beauty of poetry and I feel both Shalu and Parul are great worlds and if they like poetry, they’ll be happy if more people are encouraged towards poetry and explore it. Because literally one can find poetry of all kinds. Delve into it and you’ll resonate with the words no matter if it is Bashir Badr, Akbar Allahabadi, Rumi or even the Instagram poetry of today’s time. It is something that can make you smile, that can make you cry. That’s why poetry is beautiful and engaging and has depth unfathomable.
Do you feel actors give more impetus to the meatiness of a character rather than the intent or purpose?
As an actor, I am here to serve the film. If it’s a character like Shalu in Masaan and her character trajectory isn’t much, what am I going to achieve by wanting to do more? It’s the call of the writers and the directors. I am not greedy for dialogues or screen time. That’s why I work with people whom I trust and who I know will do justice to my character. For me, intent will always be more important than the length. Every character in a journey for me. Every time I play a certain character, I take away something from it and I give something to the character.
Considering you and Vijay Varma have worked in Mirzapur, did that world collide with the world of Kaalkoot and made things difficult?
We didn’t encounter that problem because the energy between us is totally different in a show like Mirzapur as compared to Kaalkoot.
It never crossed our mind since we were so engrossed and neck deep in the world of Kaalkoot that we never felt jarred by two separate worlds and characters. Infact, Vijay Varma is such a fantastic actor, when he would play the character of the elder brother in Mirzapur, he would look poles apart from his portrayal of the younger brother. And it was the same the other way around. So his character of Ravi was different so I didn’t feel like it was Vijay from Mirzapur or Shweta from Mirzapur.
How would you unwind with Vijay Varma when you were not shooting?
Me and Vijay Varma are such dedicated actors that whatever we used to talk about on the sets, it was always about how we could portray our characters in a much better and improvised manner. We love our work so much that nothing else crossed our minds except the nitty-gritties of the story or the character. Even the cast and crew were quite mindful and careful when hospital scenes were happening. And otherwise we would rehearse with one another and even in Mirzapur 3 dubbing wherein we were trying to lip sync and understand one another’s mind space. And the best part of working with actors like Vijay Varma or Nawazuddin Siddiqui, you never know where the scene might go. We know the beginning and the end but we don’t know all the paths we’re gonna take in between. That was satisfying to work with Vijay Varma because you know he got your back. In case, if you begin experimenting with dialogues or fumbling with your lines, you know that he’ll balance you out. And that can happen only with the best actors and that’s why I am happy that I have worked with a list of some really good actors.
You broke down a couple of times in Kaalkoot. Were there other projects that impacted you in the same manner?
No other project but Kaalkoot. On sets I have not broken down for any other character or even for personal reasons. But when I talk about Parul, I get emotional and it brings tears to my eyes. So that is the impact that characters leave on you and I am very grateful because it makes me a better person, it makes me sensible, less-judgemental and it makes me want to think about before I talk. So I am happy that I got to play Parul and become part of an important story that makes us question our own beliefs, our judgements.
Recall something about your episode from Made In Heaven Season 1. What that part meant to you?
I liked the story. I didn’t feel like it was only one episode. And it was also something that I believed in. I don’t support dowry and nobody in my family will ever support the system of dowry. Once I was in Patna for an event and there was this person who was escorting me to my room and she complimented me for that episode. But then she told me she got married and she had to give dowry. And I was like what? And she told me that in real life, one has to give dowry. And I was like this is what we need to change, people’s perception towards such practices. Because people know sometimes that they are doing wrong. And it’s only when people know what they are doing is wrong, they’ll be able to mend their ways.
How has your friendship with Vicky Kaushal evolved since Masaan?
He is such a gem of a person, so kind, so full of respect. Right from his debut till now, he has done well because he is not only talented but also a really good human being. He is very caring and he has a lot of empathy for people around him and is extremely hardworking. He has been this way from the beginning. He is a strong guy and he will go a long way.
You make playlists for all your characters. What does the playlist for Shalu Gupta, Golu Gupta and Parul look like?
For Shalu Gupta, there were some songs from Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, which are very pure and unadulterated. In Golu’s playlist, there is so much aggression and angst which makes you feel hollow, which makes you feel sorrow, which also makes you angry because that is what happened to her in the show. I created two playlists for Parul, one before the acid attack and one after the acid attack. It’s not what the character is going to listen to, it is what I would listen to to get closer to that character. Music really works for me and I am such an emotional being that it helps me connect with these aspects.
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