An artist always has a great and memorable journey with every project. It begins on a set and ends on-screen, throughout, there are so many emotions they live through. And what amazes me is how they capture the soul of different characters so brilliantly, well, I am glad that actress Shweta Tripathi Sharma also thinks alike. She is truly a wonder woman for me who is doing some different and amazing work. From being a part of a film that has completely been shot on an iPhone to now acing her game in the podcasts arena by playing Barbara Gordon aka Batgirl in Spotify India’s show Batman: Ek Chakravyuh. She is paired opposite Amit Sadh in this podcast and her experience of working on it has been simply wonderful.
View this post on Instagram
Recently, I caught up with Shweta speaking about the amazing phase of her career that she is witnessing. And when I asked her that has she fathomed the fact that she is doing some amazing work in the OTT space…
Shweta said,
As an artist we are running from one place to another that we often forget to fathom the fact that we are doing some great work. I think it’s very important to sit back and be happy with the journey. This is something I learnt from Pankaj Tripathi, he says, an actor’s work is on a set, later what happens with the project is not in your control. If you are true to what you are doing things will fall into place, it might take time. For me it’s not been an easy journey, but that is the case with everybody. This is my first audio project, and I have always found Batman very cool. Writing Batman in your inbox feels so good, it means, you are doing something right in your life. If these are the kind of roles you are getting, all on your own, it feels very good.
She also shared how having a theater background helped her with her podcast debut.
She adds,
Theatre teaches you a lot, on camera you don’t get much time. Even if you do workshops they are for a few days, but in theatre, there are months of preparations and you do play after play. Also, you have to reach the audience, there are a lot of exercises I learned through a theatre group called Aadishakti in Pondicherry. There is also an intensive drama program run by theatre professionals, I learned a lot there as well. Those tools I use for my performance now and I like having butterflies because that means you are venturing into new territory. Batman was that for me, I don’t enjoy dubbing. Thankfully, this was not dubbing. Being an actor, it’s a lot about trust, from you on the team and from the audience on you.
On getting into the skin of Batgirl’s character Shweta said,
My biggest concern was how Barbara Gordon sounded, I have a habit to talk fast, also she is way more mature than any of my other characters. Barbara is a cop, so having that authority, still being human, and playing with those many layers was great. Mantra Mugdh was such a huge help, I couldn’t have asked for a better director. I have had a great debut so I am quite happy about that. I consider IMDB as my report card and I am very happy with it.
Being a part of an audio project was a different experience, Shweta expressed,
It was very different because when we go on a shoot, the character gets on to you in a couple of days. Imagine the baggage that comes with Barbara, I mean you are Jim Gordon’s daughter. Legendary actors have played roles in Batman. Batgirl is one of the coolest characters I have played. I could not wait to explore more.
