Rasika Dugal: is known for taking on unusual, layered roles, though she admits there was a time she wasn’t sure where her career was headed. While ‘Mirzapur’ made her a household name, Rasika says that ‘Manto’ helped her through one of the toughest phases of her career. In a recent interview, she opened up about the roles that changed her life, the tough time between ‘Kissa’ and ‘Manto’, why she was still willing to audition, and how a text message finally landed her the pivotal role of Bina Tripathi.
Rasika Dugal in ‘Manto’ pulling him from the fall
Talking about the project which she sees as her real success, Rasika said that while ‘Mirzapur’ reached the largest audience, ‘Manto’ reached a point where she needed it. Speaking on India Today, he said, “Something where people see me in a different light, and something that travels and reaches such a large audience, is definitely Mirzapur. But I think the one who got me out of the misery I was in was Manto. There was a gap between Qissa and Manto, and I didn’t get much. There were many rejections at the time, which was difficult. That was really the time when there were moments where I felt, ‘Now where do we go from here? Now where am I going? Which door should I knock on and who should I ask?'”.
Rasika Dugal on how she almost missed out on ‘Mirzapur’
He further recalled how his role in ‘Mirzapur’ was almost lost. Although he knew the creator personally Karan Anshumanhe was reluctant to approach her for work. “For Mirzapur, I know Karan: Anshuman, who is the creator and one of the directors of Season 1. I know him socially, and someone told me that he is doing this show. I said, ‘If Karan wanted to reject me, he would have called me.’ My friend said, ‘Why don’t you drop him a message to remind him?’ I said, ‘I don’t want to be awkward for him. Friends who message you saying, “Role de do,” it’s a little situation you can’t get over.’ But I said, okay, I’ll message him,” said the actress.The actress added, “I got a response within like a minute saying, ‘Of course, let’s meet about it.’ When I met him, he said, ‘I didn’t ask you because you were thrown opposite Nawaz in Manto. I thought you might not want to do a streaming show. Maybe you just want to make films.’ I said, ‘Are you angry? Of course I will do it. When I read the part, I was like, ‘Wow, thank you.’ And I was almost scared. It was so against my appearance that I thought, ‘Ye log beech mein apna mind na badal de.Sometimes when I go to the office to read, I’m like, ‘Sh**, I hope they don’t think he can’t do it.’ I was very nervous about whether I could do it.”
Rasika Dugal’s upcoming project
Rasika is next found in Mirzapur. The Movie’, is set to hit theaters on September 4.