Actress Rasika Dugal is all set to share the screen with her husband Mukul Chadda in the upcoming, one-of-a-kind film, titled Fairy Folk, directed by Karan Gour. After making waves at prestigious platforms like the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, Sydney Film Festival and others, Fairy Folk is now all set to release in theatres in India.
In an exclusive chat with The Free Press Journal, Rasika sheds light on why Fairy Folk is different from other films, working with her husband, and more. Excerpts:
What is Fairy Folk about?
Fairy Folk is an improvised film and as the title might suggest, it is magic realism. It is about a lot of things, but primarily through the lens of a couple living in Bombay, who are forced to examine their relationship because of a very odd creature entering their lives, much by chance. And then the story spirals into dealing with themes of gender identity, love, relationships, control, and loneliness, but all with a sense of humour. All this might sound very serious, but it's done in a very humorous way.
Why did you choose to do Fairy Folk?
I had worked with Karan way back in 2011. So when he came to us with this script a couple of years ago, I loved it. And the fact that it is an improvised film excited me. Normally, when we shoot a film, there's a screenplay and you get written dialogues. The scenes are not shot in the order they appear in the final film. But with improvised films, we don't know what will happen in a scene. The director gives a rough idea of what the scene is and what he wants to achieve from it, but there is no concrete instruction as to how it will happen. The actors just improvise as the scenes proceed, so the film is also shot linearly. All of this makes everything look more real and natural. It is an actor's delight!
How was it working with your husband Mukul Chadda?
Mukul and I have worked together in an improv club before, so we already had a working rhythm in place when we started shooting Fairy Folk. But usually, he is like my sounding board when I come back from shoots. I tell him about everything that's happened on sets and he gives me his opinion. But in this case, I couldn't do that because I respect the fact that he was a co-actor and I couldn't burden him with my own opinions. So I missed that kind of sharing. But overall, it was very good.
How is Fairy Folk different from all that you've done so far?
When you get a bound script for a film, then more often than not, the dialogues don't adequately translate what the scene wants. I feel the idea of a scene is far superior than the way the dialogues are written. And as actors, we have to work very hard to make those dialogues sound relatable. But because Fairy Folk is an improvised film and there were no set dialogues given to us, it has all the beautiful oddities that we have when we speak in life. Sometimes, written dialogue becomes too clean and logical. And we are not logical when we speak in life. We are actually quite random. And Fairy Folk allowed to be real and random. The dialogue is the film's strength. You will feel like you're listening to a real conversation.
Do you think it's easier to make a mark in OTT than in Bollywood?
The OTT space has offered room for much newness. There is an invitation for new people to join the club. And that is what makes it an exciting space for me because it's not like 10 people are ruling the room and all the work is being circulated amongst them. Every month you have a new show with new actors, new directors, and new writers. And that is always encouraging to me that if a space can offer newness, then it keeps the old players on their toes and it always keeps the space thriving.
