Hamirpur is a district of Uttar Pradesh. Rath is a small village of Hamirpur. In 2004, a 23-year-old Rath came to Mumbai with the dream of becoming an actor.
Stayed at the station for 4 nights as there was no place to stay in Mumbai. He wandered here and there in search of work. As luck would have it, he got a chloromint ad film. The ad became very famous as soon as it was released.
It was this ad film that gave him the opportunity to work first in the television show 'FIR' and then in 'Bhabi Ji Ghar Par Hai'.
The actor did so well that the channel made a show in his name. The name of that show is – 'Happoo Ki Ultan-Paltan'. Yes, we are talking about Daroga Happoo Singh aka Yogesh Tripathi.
Yogesh Tripathi is counted among the most successful actors on TV today. However, they have years of struggle behind it. In the early days they used to do street plays. Out of this he got only 75 rupees.
Happu Singh i.e. Yogesh Tripathi's success story, in his own words
Father was a physics lecturer, mother sparked interest in films. Yogesh Tripathi comes from an ordinary middle class family. His father was a physics lecturer. There was an atmosphere of learning at home, but Yogesh's dreams were different. Mother was fond of watching and showing movies. Yogesh also got interested in films because of his mother.
Just touching the train to Mumbai would make him happy Yogesh developed a passion for acting from his childhood. They started performing plays in the villages. However, he wanted to show himself on screen. He realized that if he wanted to appear on screen, he would have to go to Mumbai.
He said, 'For us, only thinking about Mumbai was a big deal. Once I filled a form for a railway job. The exam center was deliberately placed in Mumbai so that I could get a chance to go there. After reaching Jhansi we came to know that the exam has been cancelled.'
'Then we got down to Jhansi. As he could not go to Mumbai now, he returned home by train. Just touching the train to Mumbai was a big deal then.' Tea pie people and even kill themselves Over time Yogesh realized that it was not worth going to Mumbai without any support, so he made Lucknow his first destination. He said, 'I came to Lucknow on the pretext of studies and joined the theater there. I understood that it was not right to go to Mumbai without the godfather.'
However, there was much conflict in Lucknow. Had to spend many hours sitting on the stairs there. People had to be served tea. Hit himself on the floor.
He started performing street plays, earning 75 rupees While doing theater in Lucknow, Yogesh once got a chance to attend the National School of Drama (NSD). After reaching there his eyes were opened.
He said, 'Once I got selected for the NSD workshop. I got a chance to play there. By going to NSD I got to know what real theater is. After this I started thinking only about theater day and night. Started walking around and doing street plays. He used to do five-to-five shows, for which he was getting 75 rupees.'
Had to sleep at Mumbai's CST station for 4 nights While doing theater in Lucknow, Yogesh felt it was time to move to Mumbai. He made some friends while doing theatre. He came with them to Mumbai.
Yogesh said, 'We reached Mumbai, but there was no place to stay. Decided to sleep at the station itself. For a total of four nights, my friends and I slept at Mumbai's CST station'.
Used rugs and suitcases as pillows 'Anyway, I used to share a room with many people in Mumbai. There was no money to buy a mattress. He would sleep on a carpet and use a suitcase as a pillow. Once a friend was coming from Lucknow. Ashamed, I bought a mattress for 300 rupees at that time.'
He used to do small dramas to earn his livelihood and earned two to two and a half thousand rupees from it. This was enough for a whole month's work.'
Yogesh Tripathi said that he used to stay all day at Mumbai's famous Prithvi Theater hoping to get a chance to work. Maybe find someone. And find out about the audition somewhere! . Finally, in 2007, I got a chance to work in advertising one day. This ad was for Chloromint, which became very popular on TV.'
Yogesh's life changed after this famous chloromint ad. Yogesh received 35 thousand rupees for this ad.
Chloromint's ad changed fortunes Advertisement of Chloromint became the first step to success for Yogesh. Director Shashank Bali was present there when the shooting was going on. He liked Yogesh's work very much.
Yogesh himself says what happened after this, 'Shashank Bali found my role very funny. Seeing that ad, he offered me a job in the TV show FIR. This was followed by 'Bhabi Ji Ghar Par Hai' and Happoo Ki Ultan-Paltan' received by him. Since that time I have a very close relationship with Shashank bhai.'
Happu Singh got his first role in 'Bhabi Ji Ghar Par Hai', then a show with the same name. Taking the matter further, Yogesh says, 'I used to play different characters in the FIR show. My work was appreciated, but not recognized. Then I got an opportunity to play Happoo Singh in 'Bhabi Ji Ghar Par Hai'.
This character became very famous in no time. At that time I told people that the character has become famous, at least play one of my stories on the side. At that time no one thought that the channel would make a separate show 'Happoo Ki Ultan Paltan' with me.
Star here
That means the show is still going on. Went to tie rakhi with sister, there was so much crowd that police had to be called
Even Yogesh himself did not think that he would rise to such fame from a small village called Rath. He is very popular in UP and MP because of his show.
She says, 'Just now I went to my sisters house in Mahoba to tie the rakhi. A crowd of people gathered there to see me. The police had to be called. An invitation was also received from the DM and MP there. I am very happy to see people's love.'
The craze of 'Happoo Singh' among fans can be seen from this picture. 'Circumstances made me a comedian, now I want to do a serious role'
After working in television for over 15 years, Yogesh now wants to try his hand at films as well. He said, 'Apart from comedy, I really want to do serious roles. I didn't enter the industry thinking about comedy, circumstances made me a comedian. If I had been born in the time of Kader Khan and Asrani, I would have got work in many films.' Mother could not witness her son's success
At the end of the interview, we asked Yogesh if there was anything on his mind that he wanted to share.
In reply he said, 'Whatever I am today, I am because of my mother. If my mother had not exposed me to films in my childhood, I might not have developed a passion for acting. I am very sad that she did not get to see me become an actor. When I got my first award, I just remembered it. If mother were alive today, things would have been different.'
Saying this, Yogesh got a little emotional, his eyes got wet.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
