Exclusive: Shefali, Rasika, Tillotama Reveal All The Fun They Had On Sets Of ‘Delhi Crime 2’, Director Sheds Light On Their Feminist Perspectives
The Delhi Crime Season 2 has gained huge popularity among the masses again, just like the incredible success of season 1. The series which revolved around the heinous rape crime in the first season showed the horrors of a gang that targeted the senior citizen of the city and brutally murdered them in the latest season. In a recent interview with us, the lead cast of Delhi Crime Season 2- Shefali Shah, Tillotama Shome, and Rasika Dugal along with the director Tanuj Chopra shed a light on the kind of conversations that happened on the sets while shooting such a serious show. We also get to know about how the idea for the second season originated from the director, himself.
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Q. All three of you are brilliant actresses, but also outspoken and opinionated on so many current issues, particularly women’s issues. What was the conversation on the set like?
Rasika: I was sharing my food with Tilly. We had a lot of fun Shafali is quite the person to go to for fun, unlike what it might seem like sometimes., she is a great one to go to for some comic relief at the end of a night shoot. It’s like when the light has just appeared and dawn has happened and everybody just runs to get the last shot, Shefali is the person you can go to, for your share of fun. She suddenly has a new character at the end of a long night shoot, who speaks very cutely and interestingly.
Shefali: Tanuj was horrified.
Tanuj Chopra: I can speak. They are very outspoken on a lot of issues and the conversations they would have on set, obviously takes you to want that to be lighter and, and chill, but often times they would bring their perspectives into those conversations about what the material was happening in the material and would improve the material between takes because they have such strong opinions. They have a strong feminist worldview and strong ideas. They don’t know it because they’re in the moment, but, I see this beautiful exchange happening between them that it’s not happening anywhere else because you have these three women specifically on set.
So their conversations were quite profound, whether they really understood or not. And they helped make sure the characters were fully formed that all the perspectives were fully considered and that these women that they portrayed. not only have the writer’s ideas in it but have their personal ideas in it as well.
Also Read: Exclusive: Shefali Shah On Dealing With Sexism: “I Can Raise My Sons Right So That Women Are Treated Well”
Q. This season of Delhi Crime made a shift in the story from crimes against women to crimes against senior citizens. Was there any particular incident or story that inspired this shift?
Tanuj: Oh, I see. shift. I think, obviously, the first season’s done the case is done. So you need, a new case, and your characters need to grow and do new things. I think, the producers and Richie who had first, kind of identified this crime, the Kaccha-Baniyan serial killings that happened in the nineties in Delhi, so they felt that it would make a compelling, uh, case to explore. And I think that there is a different kind of energy with this kind of case, it’s about fear and terror and safety. And those are great themes to start exploring some of the fabric of Delhi through. That’s where it started, and part of it was having to move forward. You know, we, we wanted to leave Nirbhaya was a heavy case and we wanted to sort of move forward and see if we can get audiences to that. Maybe couldn’t deal with that first season, but, um, should meet the wonderful characters that we have. You know, I think people, the great thing about the first season, people fell in love with the characters. And in season two they want to come back and see those characters. So that’s the heart of the shift is how we kind of move forward with our characters leading.
Shefali and Rasika who were also present in the last season shed some light on how their characters grew in the second season. They also talked about how they felt about this while delivering their performances.
Q. What was it like to reprise your characters and watch them grow through S2?
Shefali: It was very exciting to get back into Vartika but it was also very daunting. Any kind of work that I do scares me and I worry about the character and about going on set. I worry about the director saying action and me standing there dumbfounded. This one too became way larger than life. What happened with Vartika and Delhi Crime was unprecedented. I didn’t expect it. So the fear, was very daunting and overwhelming to think, how am I going to do that? How to recreate it? But I like the fact that her core hasn’t changed, but we are exploring even more and even more internally. So you don’t just see her dealing with a crime. She’s also dealing with herself.
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Rasika: It’s always a very interesting exercise to revisit a character because you’ve created something. And now you have an opportunity to layer it and detail it even more. And also it’s a very strange experience sometimes because it’s almost like you’re meeting an old friend where you know them, but they’ve changed a little since you met them last, you know? So there’s something new to discover about them. There’s something new to understand about them. There is a comfort with what you know, as well. So, it’s quite nice. And I’m always curious to see how the writers have chosen to take a character further. In fact, when I read season two, I got a better insight into what the writer had thought for my character when I had already done it in one season. And then sometimes I look at an aspect of it and I think, maybe this is what they were thinking and I didn’t really get it in season one. Now I have an opportunity to really sort of flesh it out.
Rasika Dugal also gave us an insight into the character of Neeti who did not really get strong support from her husband and family in the job that she had chosen for herself. Rasika talked about how she would have perceived this in real life.
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Q. We have seen Neeti grow but her family fails to respect her work or support her. What would Rasika do in a situation like that?
I don’t think families failed to support her. It’s just that it’s not working between the two of them, like Tanuj said, one day that the timing is off. When Devender makes the correct move, Neeti’s gone past that moment. They’re trying hard to make it work, he’s also in his own way, trying to make it work. So it’s not like there’s a clear situation of he’s not respecting her. Yes, the setup isn’t respecting the job that she does because people tend to take women for granted and expect that they will sort of do their work and be responsible for the house. They just have too many responsibilities, but between Neeti and Devendar, I think there is always an attempt from his side and her side to try and make it work. If this would happen in my real life, what would I do? I don’t know. I have support systems that are working, so it’s hard for me to imagine a time when they’re not. Maybe I shouldn’t take it so much for granted which I tend to sometimes.
Also Read: ‘Delhi Crime 2’ Review: Does Justice To Its Social Themes, But Could’ve Explored It’s Female Characters Better
Delhi Crime Season 2 is available on Netflix.
Shefali Shah Says She Is In Favour Of Capital Punishment For Rapists Because They Deserve It
