Rasika Dugal revealed ‘Manto’ helped her overcome a career slump before ‘Mirzapur’ made her famous. She recalled struggling with rejections between ‘Kissa’ and ‘Manto’, and how she hesitated to reach out to Karan Anshuman for ‘Mirzapur’. She was nervous playing Bina Tripathi. Rasika will next appear in ‘Mirzapur: The Movie’, releasing September 4.
Rasika Dugal is known for taking on unusual, layered roles, though she admits there was a time when she wasn’t sure where her career was going. While ‘Mirzapur’ made her a household name, Rasika says ‘Manto’ helped her through one of the hardest phases of her career. In a recent interview, she opened up about the roles that changed her life, the tough period between ‘Kissa’ and ‘Manto’, why she’s still willing to audition, and how one text message eventually got her the important role of Bina Tripathi.
Rasika Dugal on ‘Manto’ pulling her out of a slump
Talking about the project she sees as her true breakthrough, Rasika said that while ‘Mirzapur’ reached the widest audience, ‘Manto’ arrived at a point when she needed it most. Speaking to India Today, she said, “Something where people saw me in a different light, and something that travelled and reached such a wide audience, was definitely Mirzapur. But I think the one that took me out of the slump that I had gotten into was Manto. There was really a gap between Qissa and Manto, and there wasn’t much coming my way. There were many rejections at that time, which were difficult. That was really the period when I had moments where I felt, ‘Now where from here? Now where do I go? Which door do I knock on and who do I ask?'”.
Rasika Dugal on how she almost missed out on ‘Mirzapur’
She further recalled how her role in ‘Mirzapur’ nearly slipped away. Even though she was personally acquainted with creator Karan Anshuman, she hesitated to approach him for work. “For Mirzapur, I knew Karan Anshuman, who was the creator and one of the directors of Season 1. I knew him socially, and somebody told me he was making this show. I said, ‘If Karan wants to cast me, he would have called me.’ My friend said, ‘Why don’t you just drop him a message to remind him?’ I said, ‘I don’t want to make it awkward for him. Friends messaging you saying, “Role de do,” it’s a little bit of a situation that you can’t get out of.’ But I said, okay, I’ll message him,” said the actress.The actress further added, “I got a response within like a minute saying, ‘Of course, let’s meet about it.’ When I met him, he said, ‘I just didn’t ask you because you were cast opposite Nawaz in Manto. I thought maybe you don’t want to do a streaming show. Maybe you only want to do films.’ I said, ‘Are you mad? Of course I would do this. When I read the part, I was like, ‘Wow, thank you.’ And I almost got scared. It was so against what I might look like that I thought, ‘Ye log beech mein apna mind na badal de.’ Sometimes when I would go to the office for readings, I was like, ‘Sh**, I hope they don’t think she can’t do it.’ I was so nervous about whether I’d be able to pull it off.”
Rasika Dugal’s upcoming project
Rasika will next be seen in ‘Mirzapur: The Movie’, scheduled to release in theatres on September 4. Go to Source
