Mumbai, Sep 16 — Actress Rasika Dugal looked back at a significant phase in her career and recalled how the 2018 biographical drama “Manto” helped take her career out of a slump.
In an interview with IANS, she reflected on the different turning points in her journey, including her roles as Beena Tripathi in “Mirzapur” and Safiya in “Manto.” Speaking about what playing Safiya gave her as an artist, Rasika said the character and the film would always hold a special place in her life.
“Beena has given me fame, a wide audience and also a box-office hit. Safiya will always be very important in my life because I think it is a story about a celebrated writer,” she said.
Rasika highlighted how Manto, directed by Nandita Das, also made space for the story of Saadat Hasan Manto’s wife, Safiya, rather than presenting her merely as a supporting character. “But while narrating his story, the film does not ignore his wife’s story. That was the director’s intention. She was a sensitive director like Nandita Das and a talented and sensitive co-actor who never treated Safiya as a secondary character,” she said.
The ‘Anwar’ actress further pointed out the importance of bringing women’s perspectives into stories that have traditionally focused on prominent male figures. “Safiya’s story is beautifully narrated, whereas Manto has been written about and narrated so much. Sometimes it happens that we remember the stories of men and forget the stories of women.”
Rasika added that she felt proud to be part of a film that consciously brought Safiya’s journey to the forefront. “But that film did not do that. I feel very proud about it,” she said.
The actress is currently enjoying the success of the recently released “Mirzapur 2," in which she plays the character of Beena Tripathi. The series also features Pankaj Tripathi, Ali Fazal, Shriya Pilgaonkar, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, and several other actors in pivotal roles.