Students of NIFT Delhi were pleasantly surprised when one of their super seniors, Shweta Tripathi Sharma, visited the college with us recently. Requests of selfies and compliments like, ‘I am a big fan’, and ‘When is Mirzapur returning, Golu didi’, followed as the actress revisited all her favourite spots on the campus.

Shweta, who graduated in 2007 from the college in Fashion Communication, was nostalgic and excited to be back at her alma mater. “I am so happy to be back,” she told us while posing for selfies.

Shweta completed her first year in NIFT Hyderabad and got a transfer to Delhi later. “I was a safe rebel. Mujhe ghar se nikalna tha, explore karna tha. But I realised that Delhi is the fashion capital of India and I wanted to come back, so I transferred here. I used to think college Chale Jaise Hawayein Sanan Sanan (singing the song from Main Hoon Na) jaisa hota hai, but when I was completing assignments till 4 am, I realised it was serious work, and I started taking my work seriously. Time hi nahi tha kuch aur karne ka because otherwise, you would fail,” she said.

From working backstage to working at Femina and learning styling, writing, and photography, Shweta toldus that she has learnt a lot from her experience. “I would always work backstage kyunki usme sabse zyada paise milte thay. I remember working with Jesse Randhawa, she was super nice and tall, main chair par chadhke bronzer aur lotion lagati thi,” shared Shweta, adding, “When I was in the last year of NIFT, I told my father one day that I want to pursue theatre and acting. I have been on stage ever since I remember. Mere college ke paas acting workshop hoti thi, which was curated by Amal Allana, who was also the NSD Chairperson. I spoke to my dad, and he said, ‘as long as you are growing, sab theek hai’. I left that job, I joined a post-production studio, and during that time, I started my theatre company. I started auditioning, and then acting took over.”

The actress, who plays Golu Gupta in the series Mirzapur, said that the character is very close to her heart. “Aise characters milte nahi hain. I had auditioned for the part, but someone else was going to play Golu. I feel ki character, character pe likha hai actor ka naam. I love it when people call me Golu didi. It is out of love. Mujhe yaad hai main Noida mein shoot kar rahi thi and a guy stopped and said, ‘Golu didi’ and I was like ‘Yes, yes.’ Golu is also special because of what she has given me in terms of personal as well as professional growth. It was my first hoarding, usse pehle jo bhi tha woh kaafi independent cinema raha hai. Golu has taught me about fitness as well. I wanted ki jab main gun uthaun toh lagna chahiye ki yeh ladki gun utha sakti hai, waat laga sakti hai,” she said.