‘You Get Desensitised To Rejection’

‘You’re
going
to
have
your
own
journey
and
that
can
be
very
beautiful.’
‘It
can
also
be
very
terrifying
because
there
is
no
precedence.’

Rasika
Dugal
remained
active
on
the
indie
front
before

Mirzapur
got
the
attention
her
talent
always
deserved.

She
is
presently
at
the
juncture
in
her
career
where
she
hopes
to
balance
between
indie
and
blockbuster
projects,
like
the
back-to-back
release
of

Fairy
Folk
and

Mirzapur
3.

“I
don’t
think
in
this
career
you
can
ever
really
see
your
route.
It’s
a
constant
exploration,
a
risky
exploration,
and
it
should
be
like
that,”
Rasika
tells

Mayur
Sanap/Rediff.com.

I
remember
watching
you
in
Ram
Gopal
Varma’s

Agyaat,
which
is
one
of
your
earlier
films.
Since
then,
you
have
had
an
interesting
journey,
working
across
indie
features
and
mainstream
cinema.
What
was
the
time
in
your
career
when
you
could
see
your
route
as
an
actor?

There
was
always
a
clarity
from
my
side
about
what
I
really
wanted
to
do,
and
that
was
not
affected
by
the
ups
and
downs
of
my
career.

It
is
special
to
be
so
connected
with
your
work;
it’s
not
something
that
happens
to
everyone.

Most
people
I
speak
to
are
people
who
feel
like
they
didn’t
get
an
opportunity
to
explore
what
they
think
they
would
have
really
been
good
at.

So
this
is
a
very
special
gift
to
have.

My
work
started
getting
acknowledged
around
2017-2018
with

Manto,
Mirzapur,

Delhi
Crime.
A
very
different
kind
of
work
released
together
and
I
had
an
opportunity
to
showcase
my
versatility
and
to
access
the
wide
audience.

This
was
the
time
where
I
felt
very
motivated.

But
as
far
as
seeing
a
route,
as
you
asked,
I
don’t
think
in
this
career
you
can
ever
see
one.
It’s
a
constant
exploration,
a
risky
exploration,
and
it
should
be
like
that.

Not
feeling
completely
secure
is
not
a
bad
thing.
It
keeps
you
on
your
toes
and
keeps
you
motivated.

Every
actor’s
journey
is
unique.
You
can’t
look
at
somebody
else’s
journey
and
say
I
have
to
reach
exactly
where
they
did.
That’s
never
going
to
happen.

You’re
going
to
have
your
own
journey
and
that
can
be
very
beautiful.
It
can
also
be
very
terrifying
because
there
is
no
precedence.
But
it’s
so
exciting
to
be
making
your
own
path.

The
industry
tends
to
slot
actors
on
the
basis
of
their
previous
work.
When
you
do
films
like

Qissa
or

Manto,
does
it
cross
your
mind
that
people
might
label
you
as
indie
actor?
Is
it
a
challenge
then
to
constantly
re-build
your
image?

People
will
always
have
their
own
perception
of
you.
I
don’t
want
to
break
out
of
any
labels.

If
somebody
labels
me
as
an
OTT
actor,
for
example,
or
an
indie
cinema
actor,
they
are
labels
I
wear
very
proudly
because
both
these
spaces
have
given
me
a
lot.

I’d
like
to
continue
exploring
content
in
both
the
indie
market
and
the
streaming
service
market.

I
don’t
think
there
is
a
notion
that
somebody
who
has
done
work
in
the
streaming
space
will
not
do
something
in
films.
I’ve
done
work
everywhere.

Do
you
still
audition
for
the
parts
you
want
to
do?

For
most
of
the
times,
I’ve
not
been
asked
to
audition.

But
if
anybody
asks
me
to
audition,
I’d
be
very
happy
to
go
through
the
process.
It
tells
me
a
little
bit
about
them
also,
as
it
gives
me
an
insight
into
how
they
are
imagining
the
project
and
the
character.

So
I
don’t
mind
it,
but
I
haven’t
been
asked
to
audition
much
in
the
last
few
years.

How
were
the
things
when
you
just
started
out?

Oh
my
God,
you
know,
there
was
one
time
in
my
life
when
I
used
to
do
so
many
auditions.

It
was
like
you
wake
up
in
the
morning,
work
out
and
go
for
an
audition.
There
used
to
be
conversations
between
all
of
us
that
how
many
auditions
did
you
do
today?

It
was
like
eating
a
meal.
It
was
that
regular
in
my
life.
Beyond
a
point,
you
get
desensitised
to
the
rejection.

What
was
the
toughest
audition
for
you
to
crack?

I
once
auditioned
for
a
news
anchor
in
a
film
and
surprisingly,
I
found
that
role
very
hard
to
do.

It’s
a
very
information-based
unemotional
kind
of
a
role.

I
realised
for
my
craft
that
lines
are
easier
to
learn
when
there’s
an
emotional
connect
in
those
lines.

I
did
very
badly
in
that
audition,
but
I
learned
from
it.

So
whenever
there’s
just
information-based
lines,
I
need
to
rehearse
them
better.

One
of
my
favourite
outings
of
yours
is


Fairy
Folk,
the
film
that
pairs
you
with
your

husband
Mukul
Chadda.
But
it
went
completely
unnoticed
when
it
released
in
cinemas
earlier
this
year.

I
always
knew
it
was
going
to
be
a
difficult
journey
to
release

Fairy
Folk
because
the
film
was
made
very
independently.

It
is
a
very
novel
idea.

I
was
hoping
that
some
platform
would
pick
it
up,
but
nowadays,
platforms
acquiring
films
which
they
haven’t
commissioned
is
a
very
tough
part.

For
a
while,
there
were
these
golden
years
where
a
lot
of
smaller
films,
which
otherwise
wouldn’t
have
seen
the
light
of
day,
got
picked
up
by
streaming
services.
But
now,
they
have
set
agendas
and
have
their
own
mandates.

After
the
release
of

Fairy
Folk,
we
made
our
own
web
site.
Whoever
wants
to
watch
it
can
watch
it.
It
is
a
pay-as-you-like
model.
If
you
don’t
want
to
pay
anything,
you
don’t
pay
anything.
If
you
want
to
pay
something,
then
go
ahead.

Right
after
that
comes

Mirzapur
3,
a
show
that
has
a
huge
fanbase.

I’m
quite
happy
that
I
had
two
such
varied
experiences
as
an
artiste,
where
I’m
in
an
indie
film
like

Fairy
Folk
which
is
self-produced
and
also
marketed
by
ourselves.

On
the
other
hand,

Mirzapur
has
such
a
strong
marketing
behind
it.

Interestingly,

Fairy
Folk
went
online
the
same
week

Mirzapur
3
released.

It
was
a
nice
experience
for
me,
because
as
an
artiste
it
keeps
you
in
touch
with
what’s
happening
in
the
business.

Did
the
mixed
reviews
for


Mirzapur
3
bother
you?

Not
at
all.

The

Mirzapur
audience
is
such
a
loyal
one.
They
have
been
with
us
for
three
seasons.
It’s
unreal
how
much
love
they
give
us.

I
feel
there’s
a
sense
of
ownership
from
them,
it’s
like
they
own
the
show.
They
have
their
own
aspirations
for
the
show
because
they’ve
been
so
involved
with
it.

There
are
a
fair
number
of
people
who
enjoyed
this
season
also,
so
there
has
been
that
response
as
well.

Mirzapur’s
Beena
Tripathi
is
one
of
the
most
interesting
characters
on
the
show.
Would
you
like
to
explore
this
space,
in
a
complete
badass,
femme
fatale
role?

Beena
Tripathi
is
as
badass
as
anything
else.

I
don’t
think
good
scripts
have
completely
negative
or
positive
characters.
Good
scripts
have
characters
which
are
a
little
bit
of
both
because
you
are
able
to
see
the
human
side
of
their
decision.

Beena
is
someone
who
has
found
her
own
ground.
She’s
trying
to
survive
here
but
she’s
also
been
violated.

Good
scripts
have
that;
they
make
you
empathise
with
somebody
who
is
not
necessarily
doing
morally
upright
things.

Why
don’t
we
see
you
enough
in
an
outright
funny
role,
like
the
one
in

Lootcase?

I
would
love
to
do
it!
I
am
really
hoping
that
I
get
to
do
more
comedy,
but
I
haven’t
had
an
opportunity
to
do
much
of
it.

I
feel
naturally
drawn
to
it
as
a
viewer
and
feel
there’s
a
lot
to
explore
for
me
as
an
actor
in
that
genre.
I
feel
like
I
have
a
flair
for
it.

And
humour
is
understood
in
different
ways
by
different
people.
Some
are
more
slapstick,
some
are
more
dark.
There’s
a
wide
range
within
comedy
to
explore.

What
I
really
want
to
explore
is
a
sitcom-ish,
comedic
space.
I
want
to
do
a
central
part
in
a
comedy
film
or
series.

As
someone
who
has
done
number
of
projects
on
OTT,
do
you
think
the
streaming
space
allows
better
pay
parity
compared
to
films?

I’m
not
sure
if
the
pay
parity
is
better
here
than
there
because
I
don’t
have
so
much
information
about
how
much
everybody
is
being
paid
on
the
project.

This
information
is
private
and
not
something
I
have
always
had
access
to.
Much
of
what
I
know
about
is
hearsay,
so
I
can’t
really
tell
if
one
situation
is
better
than
the
other.

If
an
actor
is
working
on
a
project
for
longer,
then
definitely
they
should
be
paid
more.

A
lot
of
people
in
films
have
openly
talked
about
the
disparity
in
payments
because
of
gender,
and
unfortunately,
that’s
something
we
will
have
to
fight
for
a
long
time.