Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 5 (ANI): “Beautiful” — the word that instantly comes to actor Rasika Dugal’s mind when she thinks of the late cinema icon Irrfan Khan.
Rasika Dugal recently spoke to ANI in a candid conversation, where she reflected on her journey in cinema and reminisced about working with some of the industry’s finest artistes, including Irrfan Khan in ‘Qissa’.
“Beautiful… I think Irfan really taught me how to be a good co-actor. I think he’s one of the most talented people I’ve ever worked with. And also, He had a respect for his co-actor. I had done very little work when we were shooting for Qissa and Irfan already had a huge body of work and yet there was a very unspoken respect for my presence on the set and what I was bringing to the film which gave me a lot of confidence…it really sort of encouraged me to nuance my performance further because I was getting that respect and attention from somebody who I had a lot of respect for,” she recalled.
Rasika recalled that there was never a moment when Irrfan made her feel that he was a senior actor or tried to “school” her. Instead, she said, he taught her how to be a “good co-actor.”
“There was never a moment of schooling me or trying to tell me that he’s the senior and he knows more and this is the way to do things, not at all. And that’s why I say he really taught me how to be a good co-actor. He showed me that you can be the best co-actor simply by being present and attentive to the person you’re sharing the scene with. That’s all you need; you don’t have to do anything beyond that,” she added.
Remembering Irrfan, here we have uploaded some of his pictures with Rasika from the sets of Qissa. (Pics credit: Instagram@rasikadugal)
Irrfan and Rasika-starrer ‘Qissa: The Tale of a Lonely Ghost’ was released in 2013. Directed by Anup Singh, the film follows the story of Umber Singh, a Sikh man who suffers deep psychological trauma after being uprooted from his village during the 1947 Partition of India.
The film explores the emotional and psychological impact of displacement and loss through Umber Singh’s journey, with Irrfan Khan and Rasika Dugal playing key roles in the story.
Recalling her experience of working with Irrfan, Rasika highlighted not only his talent but also his approach towards his co-actors. (ANI)