Actor Shweta Tripathi is returning to the big screen after a while with the Mirzapur film spinoff. Ahead of the film’s release, the actor spoke to Hindustan Times about life as an actor in the public eye and the qualities she has imbibed from her Mirzapur character Golu to help her as a public figure.
Shweta Tripathi on being media-savvy
Shweta’s acting journey has been amid increased focus and attention on actors’ personal lives and what they say. The proliferation of TV and digital media has meant that their words reach the masses more fiercely, and sometimes in a distorted manner. Shweta says, “While talking to the media, it is like aap bhai kya cheez bolte ho, uska kya nikal aa jaata hai (you say one thing and another is reported). We are living in a world of information overload, unending consumption, and constant entertainment. Toh kaunsi line kahan, kaunsa clip kahan lag gaya (which line or clip is taken out of context), that matters.”
Shweta says she has learned not to mind what people think over the years, even though she has no control over how her words are reported. “I was always fearless, but your remarks can be taken out of context. It may not be your intention, but it comes out in a different manner,” she says.
Giving a recent example, the actor adds, “Recently, I had to be on a podcast that talks about population and having a child or not. And my first reaction is, ‘Of course, I am going to do it.’ And I’m like, ‘I don’t know if people will understand what I am trying to say.’ But then, eventually, I decided to go ahead because I couldn’t stay frightened. Whoever wants to understand will, and whoever doesn’t will probably understand in 10 years’ time, if not today. I am not going to not say my opinion for the fear of, ‘Is clip ka edit kya hoga?’”
‘Something I want to take from Golu’
But Shweta doesn’t feel she has become media-trained now. “I want to be honest. That is one thing that I am taking from this, being respectfully honest. It’s almost like how Golu (her character in Mirzapur) is. Chahe woh jab Munna se baat karti hai, ya phir kahin woh school ke principal se baat karti hai (whether she is talking to Munna or the school principal), she is bold. That is something I want to take from Golu, and I write in my morning pages also,” she explains.
The actor also feels that the increasing trend of asking actors pointed political questions for headlines serves no purpose. “We are actors, and we get that there is a kind of responsibility with what we say. But of course, we don’t know what is happening in many rooms, in documents, and in official decisions. So with that limited knowledge, when we are asked something, and we say something incorrect, you criticise. Arre, aap acting aur humari life ko pucho na (Ask us about acting and our life),” asserts the actor, before adding, “Also, as a society, we need to start respecting each other’s opinions.”
About Mirzapur The Movie
Shweta is awaiting the release of Mirzapur: The Movie. Directed by Gurmeet Singh, written by Puneet Krishna, and produced by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar under the banner of Excel Entertainment, the film tells the origin story of the feud shown in Mirzapur, the series. The film also stars Ali Fazal, Pankaj Tripathi and Divyenndu, while Jitendra Kumar takes over from Vikrant Massey, who played Bablu Pandit in the show. Mirzapur is set for a theatrical release in Hindi and Telugu on 4 September.