Hillbilly Belle - Tripti Dimri

Tripti Dimri / X/tripti_dimri23

Tripti Dimri went unnoticed when she made her debut in Shreyas Talpade’s Poster Boys. She did not create a stir in director Imtiaz All’s Laila Majnu either. What seemed like a bleak fate turned around with films like Bulbbul and Qala on OTT, she generated curiosity enough for Arjun Reddy director, Sandeep Vanga to cast him in his next. She left no stone unturned with her hold outing Animal opposite Ranbir Kapoor. Despite a small role, the audience noticed this petite beauty and christened her the “National Crush of India’

Since then there has been no looking back for this Garhwali girl. Her latest release might be called Bad Newz but it sure was great for her, starring opposite Vicky Kaushal and Ammy Virk, Tripti has been showered with praises from all quarters.

While the stars are blessing her with success and fortune, Tripti is taking it all in her stride, claiming she will always be the girl from the mountains, no matter what… 

“I am very spiritual and believe in nature, even on my social media pages, you will find me putting pictures of nature. I am the happiest when surrounded by nature. Recently, we were in Rajasthan for a shoot. We were filming on a hill and we happened to catch the sunset, it was divine. For me nature is God and I felt that God is around. I have spent a lot of time in nature during my childhood. I believe in all religions, be it Hinduism and Buddhism.”

Her religious beliefs and spiritualism are taking her to a path of success too, Dimri will next be seen in Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video alongside Rajkummar Rao, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 alongside Kartik Aaryan, and Dhadak 2 with Siddhant Chaturvedi.
 

Clearly, the tables have turned after she was declared the National crush, Does she believe in luck? 

“I don’t know about luck but I loved the fact that people have tagged me as a National Crush. Who wouldn’t like to be called that, it has made me euphoric. Honestly, I am humbled and overwhelmed by the love they have been showering on me.”

Life has taken a complete U-turn after the success of Animal including her remuneration they say. 

“Yes, a lot has changed after Animal. It has benefited me immensely one way or another. I can’t go into the details but I don’t think it was Animal that changed things for me, it started a little before that…” she shared, as she let us in on an interesting trivia, that though Animal was her biggest success, till date people in Kashmir remember her as Laila (and to her good fortune, they are all set to re-release the 2018 film Laila Majnu in Jammu Kashmir, strictly on public demand). 

“I feel happier when people address me with the names of my characters. Even today when I go to Kashmir people call me Laila, I feel glad that I have left some impression on the audience’s mind. That has a lot of positive impact on me. It is a very public domain that we work in, if some of our work is remembered or appreciated, it is the biggest reward. I am hoping I will be called Saloni now, after Bad Newz.”

While we are certain, she will be Saloni for her fans, one wonders which is the film that she considers a turning point in her career if not Animal. 

With a smile she reminds us, “I can’t forget the fact that I got Animal because of Bulbbul which could be rightly called the turning point of my career. I had already done Laila Majnu, which was a theatrical film and everyone said that doing an OTT after that would risk my career but Bulbbul changed things… Post that I felt I want to do more talent driven roles and don’t want to be just a pretty face in films. Bulbbul allowed me that respect.”

Coming to Bad Newz, Tripti’s first out and out commercial film as a solo lead, where she is paired opposite Vicky Kaushal and Ammy Virk, how does it feel?

 “I was a little skeptical about my character but the director assured me that the character will go a long way in the film and the audience will love it, and that’s what happened. The audience is already appreciating it.”

Appreciating and how, but Bad Newz is also her first romcom, was she also apprehensive about that? Did she need someone to hand-hold her through it all? 

“It was something I had never done before. My repertoire had only serious roles. I was scared but when I am scared I take up challenges to overcome my fear. I also play a mother in the movie. It was something that I have not experienced. I spoke to my sister and close friends and they tutored me with facts like how women go through hormonal changes and have mood swings. It helped ease my nerves and clear my perspective too.”
 

Words like fear and apprehension have cropped up way too many times in our conversation, making you wonder what kind of a giri Tripti really is… 

“I used to be a shy and introverted girl who had difficulty interacting with people around me. Even at home I didn’t interact with my cousins and relatives. I did acting for the fun of it and enjoyed the process There was no fear that the audience would appreciate me or not. I didn’t care about anything. In fact, even my parents were shocked that I chose this profession. I came here all alone and survived but today if you ask me to take that step, I wouldn’t be able to do it. I almost got into this profession thoughtlessly. But working in this industry has made me mature, confident and more sorted. So you won’t see me making any more rash decisions like that. Guess, that is what growing up and living life is all about,” she states.

Given her disposition, how is she managing in a competitive industry like Bollywood? 

“I don’t understand competition, if I am busy getting work, I am grateful to God for that. I never work under pressure or run after things that are not meant for me. I feel that acting is a part of my life just like my family, my siblings or my sports. I don’t want one thing to be overpowering the others. I want my life to be balanced. There is more to life than success. Having said that, I want my parents to be happy and content in my success and work. But I don’t think there is anything I want so much or so badly that I let it weigh me down. It is something I have struggled to learn in life, and I think I have my priorities in place! Even my team knows, there are going to be times when I will be unavailable. I like to be alone. I believe when you are alone, you analyze yourself better”

Staying alone, cutting off from everyone-sounds rather lonely…She agrees, “Initially, I felt lonely, even though I was living with my friends. I used to run back to my parents. Now my parents keep coming down too. But I feel that it needs to be balanced if you have to grow in life.”

Given she is a rank outsider, with no family in town-networking might be the need of the hour for her. How does she manage to escape and stay alone when her career needs her to be around and in the news? 

She smiles, “I don’t understand terms like insider or outsider. I don’t think too much about it. For me, it is simple, you are either getting jobs or you are not… So far, everyone has welcomed me warmly. They have made me feel like a part of a family and that’s good enough for me. I take each day as it comes. There are days I just wing it, there are others when I prepare like crazy and get nervous but it is becoming familiar and comfortable being in this industry. I couldn’t ask for more.”