Earning Best Actor (Film) nomination at mid-day and Radio City Hitlist OTT Awards for Bulbbul, Tripti on finally getting her due post Laila Majnu
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; January 30, 2021)

In Netflix’s supernatural drama Bulbbul, Tripti Dimri effortlessly slipped into the complex role of the titular character — a woman silently breaking free from the shackles of patriarchy. Her performance, both understated and enigmatic, has won her a nomination in the Best Actor (Film) category for the mid-day and Radio City Hitlist OTT Awards. Dimri recounts how she cracked the character with ample help from her director Anvita Dutt, who gave her a safe space to make mistakes. “Actors should have the luxury of making mistakes and Anvita gave me that. We built the character brick by brick for two months.”

A large part of Bulbbul’s strength came from her sense of calm, and that body language was important to create that enigma around her. “I researched about child brides and understood the emotional ramifications on them. The research was heartbreaking and it helped me build the suffocation Bulbbul was living through. I was dreading the sexual assault and the domestic violence scenes. Anvita wanted to see life leaving my body. Full credit to Rahul [Bose] who was the best co-actor I could have had. After every scene, he would distract me, while Anvita hugged me and cried. These scenes were the turning point in the film. After the rape scene, I bawled for 20 minutes.”

Dimri concedes Bulbbul put her back on the map after 2018’s Laila Majnu failed to create the frenzy it should have, given the critical acclaim. “It put me back in the game. As an actor, one only wants to be taken seriously. Now people view me with greater respect. I am doing another film with Anvita and it will be as challenging as Bulbbul.”

Did you know?
Tripti Dimri and Avinash Tiwary also worked together in Laila Majnu (2018).

Cast your vote for the Hitlist OTT Awards
- Tripti Dimri has been nominated in the Best Actor (Female): Film category for Bulbbul.

The other nominees are:
- Radhika Apte: Raat Akeli Hai (Netflix)
- Saiyami Kher: Choked: Paisa Bolta Hai (Netflix)
- Tillotama Shome: Chintu Ka Birthday (Zee5)
- Janhvi Kapoor: Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl (Netflix)
- Vidya Balan: Shakuntala Devi (Amazon Prime Video)

- Log on to www.hitlistottawards.com to cast your vote.

- You can also vote via SMS. Send HITLIST <space> category name <space> your choice (a/b/c as on the website) to 57575.

- Voting lines close on February 9.