A RELENTLESS POWERHOUSE

Shweta Tripathi is nothing if not optimistic, foresighted, and full of energy. With performances that have only taken her upwards on the character actor radar, Tripathi describes her method, breaks down her process, and warmly remembers her life-defining roots

- Samreen Tungekar

Once upon a time, there was a bubbly, talkative girl called Zenia Khan on a Disney show called Kya Mast Hai Life, striking enough to leave an impression in a cast of five. 11 years later, the bubbly Zenia has donned one too many avatars, the latest being the transformational character of the year — Golu of Mirzapur. When I get on a call with Shweta Tripathi, I can hear the chirpiness of Zenia (this show was really good, you guys), and I can sense the responsibility that she’s taken on, for her audience.

Reminiscing about her start in the industry, we gush about how far she’s come. “Kya Mast Hai Life was a great place to start, as it was a Disney show, and it was about kids, Majority of the actors on the set were really young. The energy on the set was really vibrant, it was literally Kya Mast Hai Life (laughs). All of us still occasionally talk, and there’s so much warmth,” she says.

Tripathi‘s Shalu in Masaan is still so memorable, and she has only bettered herself with every role. From playing a schoolgirl who falls in love with her teacher, or Enakshi, the strong-headed girl who loses her hair because of alopecia, you see the character first, and Tripathi second. It’s a conscious thing, she explains. “I'm a very instinctive person, and it also has a lot to do with my upbringing. While growing up, your moral compass develops, and the kind of stories that excite you, shape these choices. My intention has always been to never let my audiences get bored. I want to have that surprise element. When they see me on screen, I want them to see my character, and then me. The common element is me, but the journey that they take while watching a project of a film or a show, I want them to take the journey with my character,” she says.