Our uniqueness should be celebrated: Rasika Dugal on portrayal of women on screen

Actress Rasika Dugal says while it is a good sign how the image of Indian women is changing on-screen, she feels there's an attempt to try to create a new stereotype to break the earlier.

In the Amazon Prime Video show Mirzapur, Dugal essays a housewife who is quite a complex, grey character.

Sharing her view on the changing image of Indian women in cinema, Dugal told IANS here: "I think we seem to have created another stereotype to break the image of stereotypical women in cinema. It is at times going to an extent where women start resembling men... I mean that is certainly not the idea of portraying women in the right manner."

"Women have a complex, beautiful, mysterious, and a very interesting human mind to explore... At times we lose out on these nuances. We should not just be projected as ‘a woman also can do it like a man'. Our uniqueness should be celebrated," added the actress, who is receiving praises from critics this year for her performance in Manto and Hamid.

On her character in Mirzapur, she said: "I loved the character of Beena because I know in small towns, though there are women who subscribe to the idea of a traditional wife, they are constantly negotiating to find their little freedom from there.

"Earlier, their way towards liberation wasn't explored properly in cinema and entertainment... But I am so glad that it is happening now."

Produced by Excel Media and Entertainment, Mirzapur also features Pankaj Tripathi, Ali Fazal, Vikrant Messay, Shweta Tripathi and Divyendu Sharma.