Years of protests and sloganeering as a student leader landed CPI(M)’s 2021 Assembly polls candidate Dipsita Dhar on the sets of Ziddi Girls, a college drama now streaming on Prime Video.
Thirty-one-year-old Dhar, who also contested the 2024 Lok Sabha polls on a CPI(M) ticket from Serampore, made her acting debut with a brief role as a protestor in the Shonali Bose-directed show.
“I really didn’t have to act there. I have almost played myself,” Dhar, the All India Joint Secretary of the SFI, the student wing of the CPI(M), said.
Ziddi Girls director approached Dhar for the role after coming across one of her sloganeering videos. Initially hesitant since she doesn’t have any professional training in acting, she agreed only because the role “closely aligned with her political identity in real life”, Dhar said in a candid chat with The Telegraph Online.
“I don't really see it as a debut in acting, nor do I see myself as an actor in the future,” she said.
“But since the theme of that web series was very close to the kind of profession that I'm in right now — student politics — I agreed to do it,” added Dhar, a graduate from Kolkata’s Asutosh College and a JNU PhD scholar.
Dhar plays the role of a protesting girl, Jitti, in the show. “If you watch the web series, you will see that my role is not very central to the bigger picture.”
“But I'm glad, I'm very fortunate that Shonali has given me that space. She thought that me and our politics should be talked about,” added the Howrah resident.
Granddaughter of three-time Domjur MLA Padma Nidhi Dhar, the student leader was fielded by the CPI(M) from West Bengal’s Bally Assembly constituency in 2021.
In 2021 Assembly elections, Dhar secured 17.5 per cent votes in Bally constituency but lost to TMC’s Dr. Rana Chatterjee by 31,307 votes. In 2024 Lok Sabha polls, she garnered 2,39,146 votes but could not win.
While campaigning for the 2023 panchayat elections in West Bengal, Dhar got a call from Ziddi Girls director Shonali Bose. She walked into the sets of the show with a broken arm, an injury she sustained during electioneering for the polls, Dhar recalled.
“I actually had a broken hand while filming for the scene. It was a scene where the girls get attacked by goons, and people on set joked that it had already happened to me in real life,” she said.
Ziddi Girls follows the story of five students at Matilda House, an all-girls college, as they navigate academics, friendships, romance and the chaos of college life. But when actress Simran’s strict principal steps in to tighten the reins, the young women challenge authority, break barriers, and fight for their future.
Acting and politics are both demanding fields and Dhar, who is currently pursuing a PhD in Population Geography at JNU, is used to juggling her commitments. “I'm used to moving here and there while managing time for my academic pursuits.”
A strict advocate for gender equality and women's rights, Dhar enrolled herself in JNU in 2013 for a masters in geography and went on to pursue her M.Phil there before getting her PhD confirmation in 2019.
With the 2026 Assembly elections coming up, we asked Dhar whether she will contest again on a CPM ticket. “It’s not the individual who is important— it’s always the ideology behind it. Last time, I contested as a candidate. If in the next election, I am asked to campaign for the people who are going to contest, I don't think I'm going to do it any less sincerely.”
Over the years, many young leaders associated with the Left have moved on to different political parties, but Dhar remains steadfast. Reflecting on her journey, she pointed out how many of her contemporaries from JNU have shifted their allegiances to Congress or BJP.
“I’ve seen too many people leave, but for me, politics was never a career choice. It’s part of who I am, and unless my beliefs change, I don’t see my political position changing either,” she signed off.