Actress Rasika Duggal says Manto brought her out of her career slump before Mirzapur
Actress Rasika Duggal looks back at how Manto supported her during a difficult period and how a message to Karan Anshuman led her to Mirzapur. He said the roles with Delhi Crime showed his range and underlined how chance shapes casting.
Rasika Duggal has made a career out of playing layered, unconventional characters, but the actor admits there was a phase when she wasn’t sure where her journey was headed. Whereas Mirzapur Rasika says it made her a household name Manto Which took him out of the most difficult phase of his career.
had an exclusive conversation with India TodayRasika reflects on the roles that changed her life, the tough stint between Kissa and Manto, why she never shied away from auditions, and how a text message ultimately landed her the career-defining role of Beena Tripathi.
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Speaking about this project, Rasika said that she considers it her success. Mirzapur undoubtedly reached a wider audience, but Manto It came when he needed it most.
“There was something where people saw me in a different light, and there was something that traveled and reached such a wide audience, it was definitely Mirzapur. But I think that’s what got me out of the slump I was in Manto. there was actually a gap between story And MantoAnd 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 thought, ‘Where from here? Where do I go now? Which door should I knock and who should I ask?” he said.
Despite spending more than two decades in the industry, Rasika says she never considered auditions to be less than her. She said, “I have always said that I will audition. Over the years, people have not asked me for it, but if they ask for it, I have no problem. I would happily do it because it gives me and they get a chance to see me in that role, and it also gives me a chance to see what they want. So it works both ways. I don’t mind it at all.”
The actor then revealed how Mirzapur Almost didn’t happen. Although she knew producer Karan Anshuman socially, she hesitated in asking him for work. “For MirzapurI knew Karan Anshuman, who was one of the producers and directors of Season 1. I knew him socially, and someone told me he was making this show. I said, ‘If Karan wanted to cast me, he would have called me.’ My friend said, ‘Why don’t you send him a message to remind him?’ I said, ‘I don’t want to make it awkward for him. Friends are messaging you saying, “Give me the role,” this is a situation you can’t get out of.’ But I said, OK, I’ll text him,” the 41-year-old said.
That decision changed everything. “I got a reply within a minute, ‘Sure, let’s meet about it.’ When I met him he said, ‘I didn’t ask you just because you were cast opposite Nawaz Manto. I thought maybe you didn’t want to do a streaming show. Maybe you only want to do films. I said, ‘Are you crazy?’ Of course I will do so,” said Rasika.
He added, “When I read that part, I said, ‘Wow, thank you.’ And I almost got scared. It was so unlike how I looked that I thought, ‘These people must not change their minds in the middle.’ Sometimes when I went to the office to read, I’d say, ‘Sh**, I hope they don’t think she can’t do it.’ I was very nervous about whether I would be able to complete it.”
Looking back, he believes one text message changed the course of his career. “Imagine, just one message. What would have happened if I hadn’t sent that message?”
success of Mirzapur Beena made Tripathi one of the most iconic characters on Indian streaming, but Rasika says she was lucky to avoid being pigeonholed into similar roles. “Yes in MirzapurActors are called by the name of their character. But I was lucky because Manto, Mirzapur And Delhi Crime Were left very close to each other. Delhi Crime And Mirzapur There are two completely different roles. From the way they look, to the way they’re wired – they couldn’t be more different from each other, in terms of everything. So I was lucky that I got the opportunity to explore that versatility and showcase it and both of them did very well in their own ways. Delhi Crime It’s quite a legacy show. Beena Tripathi and Neeti Singh are very different from each other, and because they released close to each other, I think I escaped being typecast,” she said.
She also recalled how Delhi Crime Another stroke of luck found his way. “Similarly, for Delhi CrimeIt was a matter of being in the right place at the right time. i was shooting made in heavenIn which I had a small part. I knew Richie Mehta because we met at film festivals when I traveled with Kissa. But I didn’t know he was making something new and I didn’t contact him.”
“Coincidentally, Richie came to the same place where we were shooting made in heaven He had planned to do recce for the second show. The interesting thing is that that show didn’t happen, but Delhi Crime happened. He thought, ‘Oh, I have just met Rasika. She would be great for this role.”
For Rasika, such experiences have reinforced one lesson – that talent is only one part of the equation. “It’s a matter of luck – right place, right time. It’s a function of that. I recently met a director at a restaurant. I met him, and three days later he called me and said, ‘I was thinking of someone for this role, and I hadn’t really thought about you. But then we met that day.’ He himself said, ‘This shows that this is how casting works.’
Rasika admitted that avoiding typecasting was not always her priority. In the early years of his career, getting work mattered more than the worry of being stuck in the same parts. “Early in my career, I used to say, ‘Let’s get into the same image, but at least we’ll get a job.’ I wasn’t really thinking, ‘What if I get stuck in one type of role?’ I was just thinking, ‘I just want to work.'”
He said that over the years he has learned not to internalize every rejection or every success. “One knows from experience that it’s not entirely about you, and you don’t have to take it so personally when things don’t work out. Nor can you entirely take credit for it when it does work out. It’s a matter of chance. Yet you feel so thrilled when something works and so bad when something doesn’t. I want to believe I’m better at dealing with it today.”
Rasika will be seen soon Mirzapur: The MovieWhich is ready to be released in theaters on 4th September.