The Queen of Experimentation

Acting is like music, you improvise. It is like jazz, there is no rhyme or reason to it. It is not a plan. One of the greatest actors of all time, Denzel Washington said this. An actress who follows this to the tee is Rasika Dugal. The world took notice of her talent hrough her effortless displays on the screen. However, she never thought of being an actress. Acting happened to her as luck would have it. She believes it was a combination of the ability to follow a whim, a constant need to experiment and her general inability to strategize that led her to act. Rasika was working as a research assistant after her postgraduate degree in social communication media but did not see herself working in the same field. Film and Television Institute of India around the same time had restarted its discontinued acting course which had Rasika interested since she had enjoyed doing theatre during her college years and she had a profound liking for film studies during her post-graduate course. She applied for the course without contemplating a career in acting but was one of the 20 students to be selected for the course. As time passed by, she grew into the course and was fascinated by the aspects that made an actor and realized that she wanted to pursue a career as an actress.

Life has been an adventure for Rasika as she has had a career full of ups and downs. Nonetheless, she believes that she has enjoyed and been fearful at the same time. "The thrill is to create your own path, your own memories and, hopefully, your own legacy," said the Manto fame. Having no definition and recipe for success, Rasika's decision to take on the roles is driven by the stories of the characters. The feeling of adventure is what Rasika feels when she is offered an experience that she has never had. 2022 will be of experimentation in new genres for Rasika. She will gear up to do a sports series, a horror series as well as she will also be reprising her roles in Mirzapur and Delhi Crime.

"It is very rewarding when the story and your character resonates with people. But the way people receive something is very intriguing and there is always so much to learn from that," said Rasika Dugal.

A tireless work ethic and a strong connection to her work help her through her rough patches. Getting immersed in the intricacies of her work and her work helps her do her job better and take the stress off everything. Rasika's critically acclaimed performances in Manto, Mirzapur, and more are a testimony of her hard work.