EXCLUSIVE: Out of Love's Meera Kapoor is wired completely different from Mirzapur's Bina Tripathi, says Rasika Dugal

Rasika Dugal has donned many hats on reel successfully and left an indelible mark in the audience's minds.

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Rasika Dugal needs no introduction in the digital world of entertainment. She has worked in multiple movies, award-winning short films and web shows. From Tahaan, Aurangzeb, Bombay Talkies, The School Bag and 2013 release Indian-German project Qissa to Manto, Lust Stories, Hamid, Made In Heaven and Mirzapur - Rasika Dugal has donned many hats successfully and left an indelible mark in the audience's minds.

In an exclusive interview with Zee News Online, she opened up on Out of Love season 2, work amid lockdown and her upcoming projects. 

Q. How was it shooting Out of Love season 2 amid pandemic? 

A. I think that we started shooting for Out of Love Season 2 in November and I have been sort of held up in a flat in Bombay for seven months before that. So, it was a relief for me to be shooting again and to be on set again and to be in the Hills and to be in such a beautiful place like Coonoor and Ooty. I think I really was seeking that at that point. I think I also felt fairly safe because all safety measures were available and also we were largely in large outdoor locations and in the indoor ones were big houses with a lot of space. So, there were not too many people crowding in a small area. So yeah, I think being in the Hills was a very much needed thing for me at that time and I totally enjoyed it. And I think it's that. Of course, this story is set in Coonoor, but I think really any location that you shoot in affects me a lot as an actor, and in this case, I think it's really added a lot to my works as Meera Kapoor.

Q. How different is season 2 from the original?

A: Well, both season one and season 2 are pretty much following the framework of the original Doctor Foster. Of course, there are some small changes which we felt were better suited to our culture, but they are very minor for largely they are following the originals.

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Q. What are your key takeaways from ‘Out of Love’?

A: I think shooting for out of love season one and season two really made me empathise with somebody who might not be always making the correct decisions in their lives and all of us are as human beings. So, in fact, Meera Kapoor is a very beautifully flawed character and she wants to make all the correct decisions Sometimes she succeeds, sometimes she doesn't, so, I think it really makes me empathise with her even when she doesn’t. So in that sense, it is with every character that you play. You learn something and for me, it is really an exercise in the sort of extending myself to understand this person who might not always make the correct choices for themselves or for the people around them.

And all of us do that in life all sometimes even if we don’t want to. My other takeaway from season two in particular was it really sort of made me understand what it really means to be a parent. The responsibility that comes with it, but also the extreme vulnerability that comes with it and that was I think something which really connected me to this story in a big way.

Q. Besides this revenge drama, what’s keeping you busy?

A: Right now there is no shooting work happening as you know it is a situation which is not safe for anybody to shoot. So, all of that is stalled. Hopefully, when we get to better times and hopefully soon I'm scheduled to start shooting for two new projects back to back and I am really utilising this time to recharge my batteries so that I am able to do the work that I'm expected to do in the future, and with more the experiences, which I would gather from reading, watching and introspecting. 

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Q. Any similarities between Meera and Bina Tripathi of Mirzapur? 

A: None at all actually. People might behave in a particular way, and the outcome might be similar, but I think Meera is wired completely different from Bina. Bina is a very self-assured and a very manipulative person and is very skewed into everything happening around her. She's able to use the information that she especially has about people around her to her advantage, and she says that very cleverly and with a lot of ruthlessness. Meera on the other hand is making instinctive decisions. is making sometimes erratic decisions. She wants to be and wants to do the best for herself or her child, but she's very often not able to. She's not so much in control of her life. She is like every other human being trying to sort of adapt to situations she's been thrown into and really trying to be the best that she can, but often are in. Bina, on the other hand, knows how we turn things around for herself.