JOIN USIt’s a bad idea to ask an actor what’s happening,” laughs Rasika Dugal facing THE question in my interview. “An out-of-work actor will usually sidestep it with talk about some international multilingual film or such. In fact, this is the first year in my career that I can proudly say that I have films (note the plural) in my kitty! Who knows next year I will be answering your question with the evasive I-have-a-multilingual-film!” she says, clicking her tongue.
The big leagues
With projects such as Nandita Das’s Manto, where she plays the Indo-Pakistani writer’s wife opposite Nawazuddin Siddique, Indo-German film Once Again with Neeraj Kabi and Shefali Shah, and TV shows POW, the Indian adaptation of Homeland by Nikhil Advani, and Devlok with Devdutt and even a web series Humorously Yours, it’s safe to say that Rasika is miles away from that dreaded question. Not only does she have multiple projects, but she also seems to be straddling different media with ease.
“I am not tuning my acting to suit a medium in terms of performance because the camera is capturing you in every medium except theatre. So the difference is reaction and performance in a sequence versus shooting for a sequence. The key is to adapt to different energies, and that’s challenging but great!” she says.
“I have always gone with the flow. Right from my days at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) and Sophia Polytechnic (SCM), I realised that I was breathing and living films. I loved theatre too, but I knew it would be difficult to make ends meet if I focused only on that,” says Rasika. She started off with smaller parts in several movies, and instinctively after a few years decided against the cameos. And that’s when she noticed the winds of change.
First up, she got Kshay (2011), a psychological thriller that opened at the Chicago Film Festival. This was followed by the Irrfan-starrer Qissa (2013), an Indo-German film in Punjabi, which won the Netpac Award for World or International Asian Film at the Toronto International Film Festival. “I keep saying that Qissa spoiled me. I got the best in terms of script, director and co-workers,” she reminisces fondly.
In theatre, her breakthrough came in 2008 on joining the cast of The Vagina Monologues — one of India’s longest running and most successful theatre productions. “I am surprised by the popularity of Vagina Monologues not just because of its concept, but also because plays don’t last this long, do they! Moreover, an actor getting to be a part of this for so long is something very rare. I’ve done 300 shows and it allows me a lot of freedom. All of us know each other’s parts backwards, so we can fill in for anyone really. Then we keep looking for newer ways to tweak the play and Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal keeps telling us to stick to one thing, but we are errant kids. On stage, it’s just us right!” she laughs.
The big news that has brought Rasika under the arc lights is her Nandita Das film Manto where she is paired with Nawazuddin. “I have met Nawaz earlier, but not after we signed on this film. We are about to begin work this month. It’s going to be an interesting part. I have learnt Urdu previously and have restarted my classes again to ace it for this film,” she says.
During her college days, Rasika would pack her bags and wander off on a new adventure every time life presented an opportunity. “Once when I was at Sophia’s, I chanced upon a requirement for a researcher in UP. On a whim, I packed off and returned only after completing the project. It doesn’t matter what the project is. All it needs to be is exciting and I will go after it.” This lady sure is equipped for a roller coaster of a journey.