Exclusive! Rasika Dugal: I hope cancel culture does not enter the OTT space where I actively work

Rasika Dugal's name is synonymous to the OTT-verse in India and the actress, who has reprised her role as IPS Officer Neeti Singh, holds strong opinions about the ever-growing cancel culture in India. 

In an exclusive to-be released chat with OTTplay, Rasika spoke about the inner turmoils of her character Neeti in Delhi Crime Season 2, the way she takes care of her mental health after an intense project and a lot more...

Excerpts from our chat with the star:

So your character seems to be going through a lot of personal as well as professional problems in this season. So what really has changed for Neeti?

Neeti is really trying to do a good job like she was in season one but it's just that this time, she is more confident and comfortable and more at ease kind of a police officer. She has been in the police force for a while. In season 1, she was very new and got thrown into a case (that was intense). But now, like you said, she is really struggling between her personal and professional lives. She is really trying to manage and not let her family down, not let Vartika Chaturvedi down and not let herself down. So, yes, that is her journey in this whole seaosn. 

This being a crime drama show, there's a lot of violence and brutality involved, one way or the other. So what did you do to take care of your mental health and not let any of that affect you?

You know, fortunately, I was not a part of the scenes that had a lot of the graphic details and stuff. But, of course, when you are working on any material it does affect you in some way or the other. It's not so easy to tell in what ways it has affected you but I think as actors, we are constantly sort of practising vulnerability and that in itself is a move towards taking care of your mental health. It is a way to be mentally stronger, even though it might not be understood like that. That's how I understand it. 

We all know about the multiple boycott calls on several projects so far. If OTT is ever subjected to something similar, what would that mean for you as creative people?

I do not believe in cancel culture. So I just hope that this culture does not enter the OTT space I actively work in.