We grew up watching ‘Bombay’ and ‘Roja’, says ‘Masaan’ star Shweta Tripathi

Masaan star Shweta Tripathi on her upcoming Tamil debut, typecasting in the industry and more

Having shown her mettle as a poetry-reading dreamer in Masaan and as a 14-year-old school girl in love with her teacher in Haraamkhor , actor Shweta Tripathi is set to enter the Tamil film industry as a knife-weilding circus performer. Excerpts from an interview:

Your first Tamil film is going to be with acclaimed writer Raju Murugan and director Saravanan Rajendran. What is the movie about?

This is the story of a circus performer, Mehendi — who seems like a dainty girl but when she performs her act, is a firebrand — and an upper class boy, played by Ranga Raja, who falls in love with her. When I got to know the story, I was sold within the first two lines. I have always wanted to do a movie on the circus because I feel it is becoming underrated in today’s world.

Working with Murugan and Rajendran, I noticed that the Tamil film industry is a lot more dedicated; they worship their work. Everybody was on time no matter how many hours they slept. That kind of energy is infectious.

What is your character, Mehendi, like?

Mehendi is an absolute firecracker. She is the kind of girl who knows that when she walks down a lane, all eyes are on her; she is aware of who she is. There is a scene from the movie that I love: The hero is slightly drunk and is having trouble kick-starting his bike. Mehendi passes him by, then goes back and starts it for him. What I like is that confidence and control. And the way it is treated. Just because she is good with the bike doesn’t make her a tomboy. The scene has no dialogue but is powerful nevertheless.

For the role, I met several young circus performers. The amount of hard-work that goes behind it is inspiring; as are the conditions in which they perform. We were shooting in Kodaikanal in a real circus and I was freezing half the time. They told me how, while performing, people throw small pebbles at them, to distract them! I also watched a lot of acts online. I was trained by circus performers, who taught me that it’s not just about throwing knives, but that it is also the the entry/exit walk, bowing, body language, all of that.

Mehendi sounds very different from Masaan ’s Shaalu…

Oh, yes, Shaalu was the polite, gentle, poetry-reading girl. And it’s so easy to be typecast in movies. This is the hot one, cute one, bold one, item-girl...I was chosen after they watched my performance in Masaan but I am very happy they cast me in a different role.

Still, here too, as in your previous films Masaan and Haraamkhor , the story is about an unconventional pair in love. Do you seek out scripts like these?

( Laughs ) Now that you mention it, even my other current film Gone Kesh has an unconventional couple. I can’t explain it. Maybe it’s a subconscious thing; I do stories I would like to see on the big screen. The movies I do have to be different in some way, nothing vanilla will do. I can’t be an arm-candy to the hero. I need to play characters that have layers, that people can relate to. And I think we’ll have more such characters if we have more female writers and directors.

Would you want to do a commercial movie or mainstream movie then?

Yes, if they have that same spirit. Because ultimately, if you act in mainstream movies, more people will come and watch your indie movies. That’s how you reach the audience. And of course, working with Mani Ratnam would be a dream come true. We grew up watching Bombay and Roja . Even Dhanush, I think, is a great performer.

But I really admire the young crop of Tamil cinema. These new age-directors like Karthik Subbaraj are bringing about a change that I want to be a part of.

How difficult was it to learn Tamil for the movie?

Learning any new language can be tough, here more so because you aren’t learning from the scratch, just the dialogues. I stayed for a week before the shoot in Chennai to learn Tamil. A lot of people told me that you don’t have to learn the dialogues, people can prompt you or you can say something else. But I was adamant not to do that.

If I don’t know what I am saying, how will the audience see it in my eyes, my expressions and body language? I know dubbing will be a challenge, but if it’s not tough then where’s the fun?