Divyanka Tripathi: ‘Only svelte women perceived as fit for action roles’

Her smile lit up the screen and tears broke viewersrsquo hearts But that was in the past Divyanka Tripathi showcases her tough side in Adrishyam The Invisible Heroes especially as she attempts action for the first time in the Sony LIV series In conversation with midday the popular actor breaks down her actionpacked role and reacts to the disheartening and unrealistic beauty standards in the industryEdited excerpts from the interviewAdrishyam features you in an action role for the first time Did that attract you to the showAbsolutely I have wanted to do action for sometime now After I did Khatron Ke Khiladi 11 and 13 I felt I would enjoy doing action on screen So when Adrishyam came my way I lapped it up It was also an opportunity to play an undercover intelligence officer I got to show the human and realistic side to an intelligence officerThe role is at odds with the soft characters yoursquove played before Do you feel in the past creators were unable to imagine you in an action role given your imageThere has been a perception that svelte women are fit for action roles I donrsquot have that body type so it was difficult for producers to think that I could pull it off In the past whenever I showed interest in doing action I would be told lsquoNot really We donrsquot think that would workrsquo People used to think of me as a delicate domesticated person That perception changed after Khatron Ke Khiladi People suddenly saw that I had the agility and spirit to take on physical challengesDid the reality show help you prep for your stunts in AdrishyamLaughs Khatron helped me in building mental strength It taught me to overcome my fears in tough situations For Adrishyam I had separate physical prep At that time I was recovering from a leg injury The prospect of doing the show motivated me to recover faster I also did a bit of combat training I wanted to be fully equipped before the shootYoursquove completed 20 years in the industry Over the years it mustrsquove been liberating to see a progressive shift in the industryrsquos treatment of female actors across age groupsOTT is to be credited for that There are many more opportunities for women across ages and they arenrsquot being sidelined just because they arenrsquot of a certain age Itrsquos empoweringYou mentioned how your body type prevented makers from seeing you in different roles Wasnrsquot it difficult to not fall prey to the industryrsquos unrealistic body standardsOf course I wasnrsquot born with the wisdom that I have today laughs I have come into my own and I respect my body a lot But that doesnrsquot mean I havenrsquot had bad days or that I didnrsquot feel lesser because I didnrsquot have the stereotypical heroine body I remember I was rejected for a role because I wasnrsquot able to fit in a lehenga These things can make you feel bad about your body But something shifted in my perspective during the pandemic At that time I realised it was sad that we took our bodies for granted Our bodies help us function enable us to perform from the smallest to the biggest tasks How can we feel bad about it We need to be more grateful for it That thought helped me Now I am into physical fitness but not chasing anything elseOne thing that has often been spoken about you is your politeness People have strangely deemed it pretence Do you find that amusingI have been used to it since childhood In school people used to think I was being fake The same thing happened after I joined the industry They would call me lsquomeethi chhurirsquo because it was hard for them to digest that somebody could be sweet and polite Some people told me to change my behaviour so that no one could take undue advantage of me I remember being shocked People are generally asked to change their rude behaviour and here I was asked to change something good about me There was no sense focusing on it I am happy the way I am