Rasika Dugal excited about performing

Theatre, television, web series and films — Rasika Dugal is doing it all. The actress, who plays a pivotal role in the much-awaited Manto, says avenues for nuanced performers have opened up in showbiz as the industry’s landscape has changed.

“I think I was generally excited about the performances. I am like, ‘Oh my God, what a lovely role, let’s do it’. A lot of decisions were made because there was excitement about the work. I have been fortunate because the landscape has changed,” she said.

She continued: “There is more value for performance today, people are casting for people who can deliver a good performance, the standard of performance in our country has changed and improved, and platforms have opened for people like us to reach out. Therefore, we have our own little popularity.”

After roles in films like Anwar, No Smoking, Hijack and Tahaan, Dugal landed a lead role in Kshay, followed by a plum part in Anup Singh’s Qissa, which got her noticed. She has also featured in the web series Humorously Yours and TV shows like Devlok with Devdutt Pattanaik and P.O.W.- Bandi Yuddh Ke.

The “changing landscape”, she said, has led to actors like her to get projects with bigger production houses, to which “we wouldn’t have had access earlier”. Her Manto, in which she essays Safia Manto — wife of late writer Saadat Hasan Manto — is helmed by Nandita Das.

Dugal says she has never doubted her skill as an actor.

“I am too invested in that. My general idea about my work is that it’s more about the work than the things that come with it. I am constantly striving to improve on that and find new things to do there ... That journey itself is so interesting is because there’s so much to do that there’s no room for doubt there,” she said.

Besides, she feels becoming “too comfortable and conscious about what you do” can take away the “rawness, joy and idea of experimenting away from it”, shifting focus to “worrying about a good performance”.

“I have just protected that very fiercely in all these years. Nothing is more important to me than the work itself. If I feel I am getting swayed too much, I take a step back ... My focus is also on the performance,” Dugal said.

After all these years, she says one thing that she has learnt is that to open up opportunities for oneself in the industry, “you have to put yourself out there”.

“Talking about your work all the time and to open up, you have to do all that. I have begun to find my fun in that as well.”