Sound of the gun shook me completely, says Shweta Tripathi Sharma on Mirzapur

In the first season of Mirzapur, Shweta Tripathi Sharma played Golu, a studious character who abhorred all forms of violence. However, the death of her sister Sweety (Shriya Pilgaonkar) and the circumstances around it compels her to pick up the gun in the second season of the show. 

But handling firearms didn't come easy for the actress. “I still remember the first time I held a gun; the loud [sound] shook me completely,” she said in an official statement.

“I knew right then that I had to train for this. We used real guns and so I worked with stunt director Manohar Verma for the next 10 days at his training arcade near Film City. I used to take Cheeta (her husband Chaitanya Sharma) on training sessions and he was supremely excited to see me push the boundaries and prepare for Golu 2.0.” 

Sharma’s character was getting closer to the one played by Vikrant Massey in the first season before the latter gets killed along with Sweety by Munna Tripathi (Divyendu Sharma). The actress was sure that her character had to appear different in the second season because of this transformation. 

“This is the first time I was doing action [sequences] and I had started training physically in advance. The character has an interesting arc and we see her in a very different light in this season. She couldn’t have looked like Golu from season one. I would finish shooting and train daily. We don’t see many women holding guns so if I am doing it, I wanted to do it well,” she said. 

But wielding a gun confidently wasn’t all that was required of Sharma in the second season. “Gun training was important but masterji [Verma] would keep reminding me that it has to be Golu’s emotions,” she said.

“It was a tough part to crack and when that happens with a character you know every beat of and have played for an entire season, it’s thrilling. It was one of the most memorable character preparations ever.”