Rasika Dugal Reveals She Is ‘Tired Of Crying On Screen’, Credits OTT For Career Boost

Rasika Dugal, known for her pathbreaking performances in shows such as Mirzapur and Delhi Crime, recently said that she is tired of crying on camera, with or without glycerine. She said that there was a time when she could read a script backwards and it would at least have two crying scenes in the last 10 minutes. The candid comments came during an interview with The Indian Express where the actor shared how OTT has added a variety to the roles offered to her.

Rasika has carved a niche for herself in the Indian film industry, especially in the digital entertainment space. Talking to the publication, Rasika mentioned how OTT has acted as a driving force in her acting career and helped her find nuanced work where she could play a femme fatale (such as in Mirzapur) instead of the same overly emotional roles.

Moreover, she said it was due to streaming services that much of her work reached a larger audience. “Streaming services provided a new lease on life for me because many of my films had not received the recognition they deserved. There were numerous small films. Besides the fact that I got a lot of work, shows like Mirzapur allowed me to reach a large audience. This is when I realized that streaming services can help smaller films find an audience,” Rasika noted.

However, the actor maintained that although much better than before, small-budget cinema still struggles to find its due on streaming platforms. Moreover, the emergence of OTT has supported new actors and directors but at the same time, not all content on OTT is good. “Time has changed again and smaller films are struggling to find an audience on digital platforms. It is not true that all the shows being made for OTT are of good quality. But there is enough work and enough room for newness, new talent, new directors, new script ideas, all of that, so that’s good,” the actress added.

At present, Rasika Dugal is receiving praise for her performance in the thriller web series Shekhar Home. Helmed by Srijit Mukherji and Rohan Sippy, the show also stars Kay Kay Menon and Ranvir Shorey in lead roles. In the show, Rasika plays Irabaty, a classical singer. Shekhar Home is streaming on JioCinema. Additionally, her film Little Thomas is premiering at the Indian Film Festival Melbourne on August 19.