Triptii Dimri’s rise to fame may seem sudden, but the actress admits that years of hard work have gone into that one magical film and moment that changed the course of her career. She stepped into showbiz eight years ago with Laila Manju, followed by Bulbbul, for which she won critical acclaim. However, Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Animal changed the game for her. In a conversation with us, Triptii talks about rejection, criticism, success and thriving in chaos.

"Life's been hectic, but it's been a lot of fun," Tripti begins, her infectious enthusiasm evident. "I'm enjoying every day of work, and God has been kind. I've prayed for such days."

The 30-year-old admits “it’s been quite a journey”, as she acknowledges the eight years of hard work behind her recent fame. "Some people think it happened overnight – it did happen with one film, yes – but there's eight years of hard work behind it. Eight years on the field, and another two years of auditioning and being rejected. Some people think that it happened one night, it did happen with one film, yes. But I don't complain, and I don’t want to, because that was the fun part,” she recalls.

Recalling a particularly disheartening experience, Triptii reveals how a hurtful comment fuelled her determination. She shares, “Someone taunted me and said something very mean, and that was the day I thought I can’t leave the city without making it. When you are new to this industry, you don’t know a lot of things, and you are confused because you often don’t know what’s right or wrong. Something that might be right for another person and must have worked for them, might not work for you. Those days, there was a lot of confusion and chaos. There is a lot of chaos now, too, but I prefer the current chaos over that chaos. Now, I have no time to breathe, eat or sleep.”

The last few months have been quite hectic for Triptii and at the same time, extremely overwhelming. Ask her how she’s coping with all the attention and pace at which life is unfolding, and the Bulbbul actress, who was recently announced as the face of Forever New explains, “You need to know yourself. You need to know what your trigger points are and what are the situations that make you uncomfortable. It’s not something you find out on day one, it’s a process. You must go through it to get through it. There are days, of course, when you lose your calm, and you’re like, what is happening? You talk to your friends and family, and gradually, try to understand yourself as well and get a hold of things. I keep myself busy with acting workshops, meditation and journaling. There was a phase where I was meditating heavily and journaling every day.”

Triptii’s mantra is clear: Enjoy the process and cherish the journey. “I always feel that you should enjoy the process and the journey. There have been hardships. There have been days when I was out of work. There have been days where every audition that I was going to, I was being rejected and I would wonder what is happening? Is it (acting) not for me? And then, there were days where I was not supposed to go for an audition, and I somehow landed there and cracked it,” she says.

She adds, "There were days when I would be putting wallpaper on my walls because I had nothing to do. I would tell myself that a phase will come when you won’t have time to do this. I have a lot of gratitude that those days have come."