The past week has been exactly as Rasika Dugal had hoped. The second season of Delhi Crime has received rave reviews, with director Tanuj Chopra being praised for his deft treatment of the subject, and the cast, for their performances. For Dugal, it was a delight to reunite with Shefali Shah for the police procedural.

The actor, who plays ACP Neeti Singh in the Netflix series, reflects, “It’s interesting to see the relationship between Vartika [Shah’s character] and Neeti, vis-à-vis the one between Shefali and I. Neeti has a lot of respect for Vartika, but has understood that she is human and vulnerable. However, the opposite is true of us [off screen]. The more I work with Shefali, the more I’m in awe of her. With each season, her act has become even more flawless.” 

Though Delhi Crime 2 is behind her, another gritty series demands Dugal’s attention. The actor is currently shooting for the third instalment of Mirzapur, which also stars Pankaj Tripathi, Ali Fazal and Shweta Tripathi Sharma, among others.

Slipping into the character of Beena Tripathi comes naturally to her, she says. “In the initial days, I always [wonder] whether I have forgotten any essential [detail] about the character. But we have the same director [Gurmmeet Singh] from the first two seasons. Every time I stray from the character, Gurmmeet brings me back on track. He knows the character better than I do.”