New Delhi: Shweta Tripathi Sharma is gradually becoming a household name and her acting in the new crime thriller ‘Kaalkoot’ is being lauded. In a recent interview with ABP Live, she talked at length about her experience of playing an acid attack survivor in 'Kaalkoot'. The actress said that she met real-life survivors to understand their story better. She revealed that in one of her interviews, she burst into tears while talking about her role. She also shared her experience working with Vijay Varma in the series.
Directed by Sumit Saxena, 'Kaalkoot' is a crime drama released last month on JioCinema. During the interview, Shweta Tripathi Sharma said that when every character on the show gets praise, the credit goes to the writer and director of the show.
Here are the excerpts from the interview:
What challenges did you face while playing an acid attack survivor in ‘Kaalkoot’?
It is very important to understand what the girls and boys (whoever faces an acid attack) are feeling in whatever capacity you can. Before the incident happens, they are somebody and then the incident changes everything in their lives. Not just their face, but how they feel about themselves and about their dreams.
In Parul's (Shweta’s character ‘Kaalkoot’) case, she wanted to be a lawyer. But, now what happens is when you enter any room, before people get to know you also or your story, they will judge you on the basis of how you look. You already get labels without people having a conversation and that is so unfair.
We live in a world where we emphasise so much on how a person looks than how a person feels. It is high time we should start those conversations as well.
Acid attack is a crime of entitlement. We have no right to destroy someone’s face and someone’s dreams. We easily blame society for that, but we forget that we are the ones who make a society.
Let's be kinder, let's go back to simpler things. Have fun… nobody is asking you not to go enjoy but we have to take responsibility that we are in this together as a community.
Your screen time in ‘Kaalkoot’ was less but your performance was impactful. How much would you rate your own work?
My aim used to do Justice to my writer and director have imagined and if possible then go steps ahead of that as well. The most important thing was when acid attack survivors watch, they would feel that she has done some percentage of what we go through. Speaking to them, and meeting them, I realised that there are way more courageous than I can imagine.
Your face not only changes in the mirror but the way people look at you also changes. It’s not only emotional and physical pain, it also requires money for the surgery.
I believe that an actor is there to serve the story - the number of dialogues or screen time does not matter. I just want to do my work truthfully, after that the audience will decide.
While watching Parul, I cried and I felt the pain. Even in one of the interviews a few days back, I got emotional in the middle. The person who was taking my interview didn't realise what happened.
I get emotional because it's not easy. Every time you play a character, you give it a part of you. So, huge respect for people (acid attack survivors) who have gone through that journey.
How was it meeting real-life acid attack survivors?
I met them, I heard them and they were smiling, they love makeup and they love making reels. The one thing that I felt bad about was that their attackers’ lives are as normal as possible. They are married and have kids. How bad does it have to get for us to take notice? Just because this is not happening to our door, we neglect it. We need to spark those conversations and this was the motive of ‘Kaalkoot’.
How was working with Vijay Varma again in ‘Kaalkoot’ after ‘Mirzapur’?
He's a supremely hard-working and talented person who is full of empathy. Wo aisa student hai jiski company me aap rahoge toh aapke number automatically badh jaayenge. I love working with him. When we were on the sets of ‘Mirzapur’, I am with Bade and Chote Tyagi (Vijay Varma's character in ‘Mirzapur’) and here I was completely different. Working with good actors is always fun.
From ‘Masan’ to ‘Gone Kesh’, do you consciously pick different roles?
I want to surprise my audience and that will happen when I surprised myself. If I keep serving the same thing, people will get bored with it someday. I want to explore. When you try different things, you get to learn a lot. Off-screen is the place where an artist grows the most because of the kind of conversations and the kind of people you meet.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t aware of Alopecia before ‘Gone Kesh’. Because of my character, I get to know so much. I knew about acid attack survivors and thanks to ‘Kaalkoot’ I met them.
After spending so many years in the industry, are you satisfied with the kind of roles you are getting now?
I am very grateful. I feel very blessed. As an actor, I think the hunger for satisfaction should be ongoing. I feel very grateful because of the people I've met on screen and the relationships that I have formed like I am so close to my ‘Mirzapur’ gang. The bond goes beyond the show and beyond the promotions.
What is your idea of India in 2047, 100 years of independence?
I think of a country where we have respect for each other as individuals and their dreams. Respect is a foundation for a lot of relationships and relationships are not only relationships that we have with each other but also what we have with nature. Nature has given us so much, I really hope and pray that it's time we all celebrate that.