Dipi Rebecchi

Dipika "Dipi" Rebecchi is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Sharon Johal. She made her first appearance during the episode broadcast on 24 April 2017. Johal originally auditioned for the role of Dipi's younger sister Mishti Sharma (Scarlet Vas). Actress Scarlett Vas secured the role and producers changed Dipi to better suit Johal. Dipi is part of the extended Rebecchi family introduced into Neighbours, joining established regular character Toadfish Rebecchi (Ryan Moloney). She is married to Shane Rebecchi (Nicholas Coghlan) and they move to Erinsborough with their two daughters Yashvi (Olivia Junkeer) and Kirsha Rebecchi (Vani Dhir). She soon becomes the new owner of Harold's café.

Dipi is characterised as very social and extroverted. She has a passion for musical theatre which is often explored in her stories. She is portrayed as a proud mother and wife, but her overbearing ways uncover anger issues as she gets into violent altercations with three characters. She also establishes herself as a local gossip alongside Sheila Canning (Colette Mann). Dipi is older than Johal so the show's styling team have to make her appear an older mother by dressing her in baggy caftans and altering Johal's glamorous hair style. Her stories have included an assault on Jake Hendra (Guy Greenstone), a near death experience, her turbulent marriage to Shane and constant interference in Mishti's life. In March 2021, Johal announced her departure from the show and she made her final appearance in July 2021. Critics of the genre have praised Neighbours for adding multicultural diversity in hiring Johal, an Indian-Australian actress.

The character and casting details were announced on 27 March. Johal originally auditioned for the role of Dipi's sister Mishti Sharma, but the character's age was lowered and Scarlet Vas was cast instead. The producers of Neighbours liked Johal, so they decided to change Dipi to make her work better for the actress.

When Johal auditioned for the role she had long been trying to gain an ongoing role. She was working as a lawyer and in 2016 contemplated giving acting up to concentrate on her second career option. Producers called the actress back for the audition process for Dipi. The actress recalled there being almost 50 actors present wanting to play Shane. She auditioned with actors either shorter or older than herself which left her feeling that none would be a good match and lessened her chance of being cast together. Johal had not read for the part with Nicholas Coghlan at the first audition but casting directors would later put them together. Johal stated that the casting team had a clear vision for Dipi and Shane and thought they would work well together. When her agent informed Johal she had won the role she was at work in the law office. She was left speechless and felt a "massive sense of relief".

"The thing I love about her is she's a great role model for women. She's unapologetic in the way she feels and what she believes in. Everything she does, she owns."

The characters official biography on Tenplay describes her as "a ray of sunshine to those around her". She is very social and is "highly extroverted". She is determined to see the good in people and is family oriented. She is a proud mother of three children and wife to Shane. Dipi is also "enthusiastic and bubbly, with an infectious lust for life". She counts Indian astrology, Ayurveda medicine and cooking as her main hobbies.

The character is delighted to reside in Erinsborough after moving from Bourke. She also relishes the challenge to manage her own café. Shane and Dipi met during a theatre production of Grease. Shane was the stage manager and built the sets. The couple make references to it on-screen. Dipi is good friends with Shane's mother Angie Rebecchi (Lesley Baker). A writer from Tenplay noted that "Dipi must be really something" because Angie does not usually get along with her son's partners.

Johal felt she was not similar to Dipi because she had no experience as a mother and wife. The much younger Johal found it quite "a transition" coming in and playing a mother whose entire life revolves around her family. Johal did initially feel that most of her character's stories were just reacting to her family's dramas. She told the show's publicity team that "my role is just to keep my family together and just protect them at any cost." However, the actress wanted the character to have "a lot of layers in terms of her dreams and her career ambitions." She added that the Neighbours writers were supportive of her wishes and developed her passion for theatre. When asked about Dipi's persona Johal stated "Dipi is kind of loud, vibrant, she has got a lot of personality and she is obsessed with broadway." Each member of the Rebecci family has a nickname of a fish. She concluded that the previously mentioned character traits meant that "starfish" would be a good nickname for Dipi, especially because "she likes to see herself as a bit of a star."