Shweta Tripathi Sharma finds joy in living life via characters that she plays and with rise of OTTs, she feels we have to be responsible for what we put out
Kavita Awaasthi (HINDUSTAN TIMES; February 13, 2021)

With four shows last year, actor Shweta Tripathi Sharma was on a roll. Her demure character in Raat Akeli Hai, curious one in Cargo, fiery in Mirzapur season 2 and protective in The Gone Game Season 1, got her much love from the audience. With four projects lined up for 2021, the actor is clear about her career choices — passion over money. Excerpts from an interview:

With the kind of projects you have done and love that you’ve received, what do you think of your career progression?
I’m not a part of any race. I’m here for the joy of acting, which makes me happiest. Ten years ago, when I started my career, my yardstick to take up a project was, does it excite me? And even today, it’s the same. For me, the team, the experience, matter the most. Be it Masaan (2015) or Haramkhor (2017), there were ek se badkar ek log, who’re driven by passion. More than the budget of the film, the people are important.

While starting off as an actor, what were your struggles?
I shot Haraamkhor first but Masaan released before that. Even today, my struggles are the same. There are times when one feels frustrated that why am I not working? Being on the set is my happy place. I want to do projects which have a story worth telling. I don’t want to be driven by labels that money, commercial cinema or appeal is more important but I’m driven by passion. Releasing a film in 5000 screen is bigger, but that’s not my driving force.

With every project, your brand has scaled up, does it help or hinder your choices?
Usually, once I finish a project, I move on. But with Mirzapur season 2, for the first time, I had a lot of expectations. Pankaj Tripathi (actor) had told me that, ek actor ka kaam set pe khatam ho jata hai. We experience emotions and live life via different characters. That is my joy and what I want to practice. With every project, I want the characters to be unlike what I’d played before. Soon, I realised I need to research, meet more people and know more stories. This year, my agenda is to be more of a student. I’m focusing on my health, learning ballet and contemporary dance as I want to learn and grow.

With most web shows getting many seasons, how do you work around playing the same characters repeatedly?
When we took on web series, we didn’t realise that there would be seasons. Pehle yeh samajh nahin thi. Now, there is a better understanding about series and one has to ensure quality as a series is long term investment, in terms of emotion, availability and money.

Your views on the rise of OTT?
Audience today is spoilt for choice but also what is important is that we’ve freedom of speech and expression. So, we’ve to be responsible for what we put out. We’ve to take ownership of our content. Most content few years ago was about violence and sex. Today, it’s much more than that. I’m playing a “happy” character in one of my upcoming shows and I’m glad as I’ve played too many dramatic ones and wanted a break.