Rasika Dugal is thrilled to step back into the world of ‘Mirzapur’, this time for its big-screen outing. In a recent interview, she opened up about being part of what she considers a first-of-its-kind moment for Indian entertainment, the demanding shoot schedule for the series, reuniting with the original cast and crew, and the pressure of meeting the expectations of the franchise’s devoted fanbase.
Rasika Dugal calls the film a landmark, first-of-its-kind moment
Describing ‘Mirzapur: The Movie’ as a landmark moment, Rasika expressed excitement at being part of a project charting new territory. Speaking to India Today, she said, “I’m very excited that I’m a part of something which is happening for the first time in our country, in our industry, where a series is being made into a film. I think it’s happened in the West. Peaky Blinders is something that happened after the series was done. The other way around has also happened in the West, where a film has been made into a series. But this is the first time that it’s happening in our country. So I’m very excited that I’m a part of that”.
Rasika Dugal hopes OTT audience follows the show to theatres
The actor confessed she is just as keen to see how audiences respond to the shift from OTT to the big screen. “I’m very curious to see how the audiences receive that, and I hope our very loyal streaming audience comes to the theatres also,” she added.
Rasika Dugal says shooting the film was less hectic than the series
Though the cast and crew remained the same, Rasika pointed out that the pace of shooting the film was nowhere close to the frenetic energy of the series. “The crew was exactly the same. It’s just that we had more time to shoot. In the series, I feel like something is dropping on my head because I’m shooting five or six scenes in a day. I just finish one, and I have no idea what happened. I’m barely grappling with what happened before I’m rushed into a room to change one saree and thrown back into another scene. It almost feels like I’m doing a theatre show where you’re going into the wings and coming back. It almost feels like that. And it feels very heavy,” she recalled.
Rasika Dugal recalls Divyenndu Sharma’s reaction on Season 1 set
She recalled sharing this very sentiment with co-star Divyenndu Sharma back during the first season. “I remember speaking to Divyenndu when we were shooting Season 1. We just got two minutes to sit, and Divyenndu looked at me and said, ‘Yaar yeh thoda zyada dark nahi ho raha hai(Isn’t this getting a bit too dark?)’ I said, ‘Thank you for articulating it,’ because I was too tired to even articulate it,” she said.
Mirzapur: The Movie release date
‘Mirzapur: The Movie’ will hit theatres on September 4.