Actor Rucha Inamdar shot to fame with the web series Criminal Justice, which also marked her debut in the digital space. Her latest release, Minus 31: The Nagpur Files, hit the screens yesterday (July 21). The film is a murder mystery set against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic and sees Rucha playing a cop. It also features Nisha Dhar, Raghubir Yadav, Rajesh Sharma, Jaya Bhattacharya and Kaambhaari in important roles.
Rucha will next be seen in the second season of the web show, The Great Indian Murder, and filmmaker Aditya Kripalani’s film titled Not Today, which won her the Special Jury Award at the Ottawa Indian Film Festival in 2021. In an exclusive chat with News18, Rucha talks about Minus 31, the shift in the onscreen representation of cops and eyeing the big league. Excerpts:
Back in the day, the cops we saw onscreen were flamboyant and larger-than-life. In Minus 31, you play an extremely human cop. How do you look at this shift in their depiction?
In general, there’s a shift in the way stories are being told these days. When we were growing up, the stories we watched were larger-than-life and were about flowing sarees and beautiful landscapes. These days, they’re a lot more real. We now see characters like you and I and they’re relatable. Cops, earlier, were flamboyant and attractive. But my character is more real along with being attractive. She has human emotions and when cornered, she reacts but not in the most ideal way. She gets angry and cries. It has also got to do with how content has changed. We, as an audience, have grown. We’re far readier to accept real content in an entertaining way. That shift is reflected in my character too.
But would you say that the way women cops are written are more nuanced than male cops?
Definitely. Earlier, not too many powerful characters were written for women. Female characters as it is come with an added dimension that can be tapped. Women cops have several layers to them. There are many aspects to being a woman and that’s being explored in the writing now. In Minus 31, there are certain sequences which nobody would have even thought of incorporating in the script 10-15 years back. I feel very lucky to be an actor in these times where I get to portray these layers because characters aren’t mono-dimensional anymore.
A post shared by Rucha Inamdar | ऋचा इनामदार (@ruchainamdar)
Did you refer to any other cop shows, films or characters to develop your role?
I’ve watched Delhi Crime and I loved Shefali Shah’s performance. She was brilliant in it. Having said that, I didn’t study any onscreen character.
Could you shed some light on how you prepped for your part then?
I actually went and met real cops. We took prior permissions and I spent a lot of time in the police station. I saw women cops dealing with criminals and their own personal problems. I went patrolling with them and lived with them for a while. That was the research I did when it came to creating Preksha Sharma. I wanted to give my character a human connect and make her appear real.
Cop thrillers are being made in galore today. What do you think will make Minus 31 stand out?
We haven’t watched a cop film interlaced with rap music before this. It’s a new-age murder mystery which has a different treatment. While investigating the murder, my character stumbles upon two rappers. The blending in of the rap world within the system and how my character of an underdog, impulsive cop solves her first murder case and navigates the system is incredible. That’s what makes Minus 31 very raw. It has a great musical quotient. We’ve used Nagpur as a setting and Covid as a backdrop and that’s something we haven’t seen before. It’s very interesting. Minus 31 also makes a subtle comment on the system and how human beings function. There are a lot of layers to it.
Before foraying into films, you appeared in many commercials where you worked with established directors like Anurag Kashyap and Shoojit Sircar. Would you still say that it’s difficult to bag a big banner project?
Of course! Being a good actor, I’ll always have work for sure. That’s one thing I’m thankfully blessed with. Having said that, I do agree that you need that one opportunity that helps you grab more eyeballs. That hasn’t happened yet. I’m still finding my way through. I seek to do good projects with good people and play meaty characters so that the biggies notice and cast me someday. I don’t have a godfather and so, doing good work is the only way out. I’m definitely doing my bit and hoping to be a part of great content and work with great filmmakers as soon as possible.
What's your reaction?
Comments
0 comment