Mumbai is a city of dreams, but the current Coronavirus pandemic, if nothing, has taught us that with a little will power and a good Internet connection, anything can be achieved from anywhere. Maintaining her A-game in comedy, Mallika Dua, who shifted her work station back home, says she is “grateful for the opportunities received in 2020”.  

“I expected the pandemic to stretch for long. While I have been [working from] Delhi since March, I miss Mumbai and the city’s work ethic. Everyone is largely working from home and mine happens to be in Delhi,” says Dua, who has done three shows in 2020. “I shot a show from home that went on for six months. Following that, I was on-ground in Mumbai for two others, which includes a non-fiction show for Amazon Prime Video. I didn’t lose work because people can work from anywhere,” the actor added, who was also seen on the judges’ panel of a reality show for aspiring social media influencers.

Dua, who was last seen in Indoo Ki Jawani, believes 2021 has begun on a good note. “I already have a show lined up for January.”

Kavita Awaasthi (HINDUSTAN TIMES; May 6, 2020)

In an effort to make an all-encompassing campaign to combat and address the sharp rise of domestic violence and mental health issues during Coronavirus lockdown, Bollywood and theatre celebrities came together in a video put together by Women in Films and Television India, to reiterate why no one should tolerate any form of abuse.

Richa, an advisory board member of WIFT India, headlined the campaign which features several artistes including Kalki Koechlin, Amyra Dastur, Mallika Dua, Pulkit Samrat, and Adil Hussain.

As videos of celebrities washing dishes, and cooking have gone viral in the last few months, here the artistes speak about how they have divided the chores of the house between themselves and their partner. For instance, Kalki can be seen talking about how she made breakfast while her partner took their dog for a walk; Adil, speaking in his native language, Assamese, discusses how he enjoys cooking. The video was circulated widely on social media and included voices from all over the country.

Richa says, “The agenda was to highlight the emotional stress people are going through and how that often leads to several things including domestic violence. This is a problem across the world, and a campaign like this effectively speaks to a wide audience. Women could possibly be trapped and locked down at home unable to muster the courage to report crimes against them. The elderly could be feeling particularly hopeless in such situations. We urge anyone going through trauma to take to counselling on the helpline numbers available.”

As more and more celebrities are talking about the need to create a well- rounded campaign to combat these issues, Richa feels this video is a major step in the right direction. She adds, “India is a diverse, fragmented society, so if a message has to reach everyone, it has to be done in multiple languages. Involving artistes of different states was consciously done to be able to create a larger impact and reach everyone across different cultural and socio-economic stratus.”

Making her web debut with The Trip 2, Amyra Dastur on why it is refreshing to work with an all-women cast
Letty Mariam Abraham (MID-DAY; October 2, 2018)

Amyra Dastur, who is the latest addition to the second season of The Trip, insists she couldn't have asked for a better show to mark her debut in the digital space. While one may assume her enthusiasm stems from the runaway success of the show's first season, her reasons are quite different. "I have grown up around women. My mom quit her job to take care of me, my aunt raised two daughters on her own. I always wanted to do a project that showcases the strength of a woman," asserts Dastur.

The Pondicherry shoot behind her, she has the highest regard for co-stars Shweta Tripathi, Sapna Pabbi and Mallika Dua. The industry has often perpetuated the notion that collaborations between female actors are accompanied by catfights and ugly showdowns. However, Dastur emphasises that she has had a better experience working with women.

"There was no b**chiness among us. I have worked with insecure actors before; you finish the project and hope to never work with them again. Men are more b**chy than women. This industry is sexist. I hope the attitude changes, but that will take time," she says, adding, "I have been in a situation where I was asked to tone down my acting so that I don't overshadow my co-actor."

Considering the rest of the cast knew each other having worked together in the previous season, did Dastur feel left out? "Never! Sapna and I have been friends since 2014, and have often taken trips together. Right from the start of the shoot, they asked me to blatantly tell them if I felt left out. We would constantly hang out in the vanity van together."

Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; August 28, 2018)

Much like it does for comedy sitcoms, improvisational work contributed immensely to the screenplay of The Trip 2, which marks Amyra Dastur’s foray into the digital space. So much so that a fair share of the dialogues that will be heard in the show was the brainwave of Dastur and co-star Mallika Dua, both of who could tickle the funny bone owing to the bond they shared off screen.

Dastur, who will be credited as writer along with Dua, tells mid-day, “Mallika’s character, is related to that of mine. Inevitably, our scenes needed us to feed off each others’ dialogues. Whenever we’d rehearse along with Sonam [Nair, director and co-writer], we’d improvise and add our own lines. The unit kept cracking up, so Sonam decided to retain them in the series.”

Working with the all-female crew in Pondicherry was a delightful experience, she says. “Since none of us knew Tamil, communicating with the locals resulted in hilarious situations.”

Letty Mariam Abraham (MID-DAY; November 8, 2017)

Her understated performances in Masaan (2015) and Haraamkhor (2017) made critics sit up and take notice. Before one could bracket her as an arthouse performer, Shweta Tripathi sprung back on the scene with The Trip - a web series that couldn't be further removed from her previous projects. Signing on a light-hearted show, she says, is a deliberate attempt to continuously surprise the audience. As she returns with the second season of The Trip, Tripathi talks about forging a deep friendship with co-stars Mallika Dua, Lisa Haydon and Sapna Pabbi, and the joys of travel.

Will The Trip 2 kick off from where the last season left off?
Considering the last trip constituted my bachelorette party, I don't know if my character will be shown as a married girl this time. We'll know once the show goes on floors in January. I've heard that it'll be a road trip in Rajasthan, but there's no confirmation yet. This season too will be about the characters discovering themselves during the trip. I think travel helps you grow as a person.

Are all the protagonists reprising their roles in the new season?
Mallika, Sapna and I are on board. Since Lisa just had her baby, I'm not sure if she will be joining us. I hope all four of us get back together because the last season was a great experience.

Did you stay in touch with them in the interim?
Sapna and I manage to catch up. We are total health freaks, so we meet over salads or coffee. She does Pilates and I've got hooked on to it because of her [laughs].

Have you met Lisa and her newborn Zack?
We had planned to meet her, but it didn't work out as she has been travelling a lot. But, she has been sending us baby pictures regularly. I have been quite busy too. I had to travel to Paris and Busan for the screening of Haraamkhor at their respective film festivals.

Most of your films have won critical acclaim. Had you imagined this sort of appreciation this early your career?
Not in the least. I didn't know such films existed. I wanted to be the kind of actor who would wear a salwar suit and dance in the fields [laughs]. Now, as I attend film festivals, it all seems like a dream. I'm glad to balance my serious roles with something like The Trip, which is an opportunity to do something different.

Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; November 7, 2017)

The rapid unravelling of media mogul and Hollywood’s leading producer-distributor Harvey Weinstein, followed by House of Cards-star Kevin Spacey accused of molesting a minor, has shaken up the entertainment world in the West and prompted many victims to speak up against other power players.

Over the last two weeks, multiple allegations have been reported against actor-comedian Andy Dick, producer David Guillod, Oscar-winner Dustin Hoffman, songwriter Ethan Kath, TV star Jeremy Piven, filmmaker Brett Ratner, writer-animator Chris Savino, screenwriter-director James Toback, to name a few.

While Hollywood has sprung into a much-needed clean-up operation at the workplace, Bollywood has remained tightlipped on the issue. Finally, actress Swara Bhaskar speaks up about being harassed by a drunk filmmaker and why it’s important to break the code of silence.

The casting couch is not new to Bollywood. So why isn’t our film frat ready for a spring cleaning of sorts, a la Hollywood?
Sexual harassment is a universal phenomenon because fundamentally it is about power or rather the misuse of power. No relationship, even the most intimate, is devoid of power dynamics. Power operates most brazenly in an unregulated workplace and that is what Bollywood is. The way a film set operates is often feudal and always hierarchal, where some people give instructions and others execute them. It is an uncertain place ruled by fortune, the cruel seductress, populated with a crowd of forever anxious ambitious dreamers and hustling freelancers. If you succeed, money, glory and power is yours. If you fail, the world falls apart. Conditions at the workplace are ripe for sexual harassment, more so because victims can be easily silenced.

The shaming movement in the West is so effective because actors are naming offenders.
Actors are vulnerable because they are perennially either looking for or out of work and much too ambitious to risk their careers for a cause. Also, the backlash on the social media is scary. See how Mallika Dua was trolled on Twitter by random people. (The comedienne wrote an open letter, after Akshay Kumar, judge of reality show, The Great Indian Laughter Challenge, commented at her, “Aap bell bajao, main aapko bajaata hoon...”) Bollywood is not conducive to an honest conversation about sexual misconduct.

Over 300 women have spoken up in Hollywood and 31 official complaints have been registered so far.
I would like to make a distinction between sexual misconduct, inappropriate remarks and rape. Kevin Spacey has been accussed of attempting to rape a minor. Whenever Bollywood faced a similar situation — the case of Shiney Ahuja comes to mind. The reaction was to quietly allow the law to take its own course. In other cases too, celebs have chosen not to comment, which in some ways is better than slut-shaming the victim or accuser. Ours is a small industry where everyone is friends with or related to someone which makes the task harder. We need to follow the example set by the Malayalam film industry which has instituted an anti-sexual harassment committee after the rape of an actress to create a safer working environment and to get justice.

Have you personally faced harassment on a film set?
Of course. I’ve been propositioned by men who were in a position to cast me. I lost a few roles because I didn’t give in. It made me vulnerable, nervous. Some people even stopped responding to my messages because they knew I would not give in. Being an articulate, educated girl they sensed that I would not take things lying down.

There have been catcalls during shoots and eve-teasing on one of my sets. I’ve been groped by a mob during promotions and during a 56-day outdoor at a remote location, when I was still fairly new, the director harassed me with texts and dinner invites. He stalked me during the day and called me through the night. I was asked to go to his hotel room on the pretext of discussing the scene and would find him drinking. During the first week itself, he started talking about love and sex and one night, arrived in my room, drunk, and asked to be hugged. It was scary! I was young and alone. I would switch off the lights after pack-up and remove my make up in the dark so he would think I was asleep and stop calling me.

Did the harassment stop?
Yeah, after I told him that he was scaring me and making me uncomfortable. I told him I wouldn’t be able to act if this continued. He acted hurt and said I had misunderstood him. He stayed away for two weeks, then he was back to his tricks. I finally confided in the executive producer and made sure that I was escorted everywhere.

What is the best way for an actress to deal with harassment on a film set?
Lose the part but don’t get on the couch. It’s not a feminist choice and it’s certainly not a liberating choice. It’s like giving a bribe and that is succumbing to a wrong.

In Anaarkali Of Aarah, your character sleeps her way to the top. How did you feel playing this role?
Anaarkali Of Aarah is a path breaking film. Anaarkali is a promiscuous, ambitious girl who sleeps with the manager of her troupe to become the lead singer. She’s a grey character, difficult to sympathise with and yet, by the end, you do empathize with her.

There is a dialogue in the film with Anaarkali saying, “I am a whore/slut according to your morals and definition but it is still not okay to molest or harass a girl.” That took the debate away from the girl’s lack of virtues to put the blame squarely on the aggressor. That is what has to happen in real life too. It doesn’t matter what a woman does, she does not want to be touched or propositioned without consent. Period.

Earlier this year, TVF founder-CEO Arunabh Kumar, was forced to step down after several complaints. Bollywood remained a silent spectator through the controversy.
The TVF controversy started a conversation that was long overdue. But the first allegation was an anonymous letter and it is difficult to say anything about an anonymous allegation. What was interesting was that many other girls came forward subsequently, spoke up, giving up their identities. That created a public discourse. We need to stop silencing and start sharing. We need to stop slut-shaming and ask for a collective platform to deal with this issue. We are all guilty of being in the know and remaining silent. And that is complicity.

Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 23, 2017)

Akshay Kumar, who was last seen on TV as the host of the action-reality show Khatron Ke Khiladi in 2011, is set to return with The Great Indian Laughter Challenge. And while work on the comedy show doesn’t kick off before the month-end, Akki, who is currently shooting for the Reema Kagti’s sports-drama Gold in London, is taking an active interest in its run-up. At his behest, internet sensations Zakir Khan and Mallika Dua, and actor-writer Hussain Dalal, who serve as mentors, are undergoing training with Akshay keeping tabs as he wants everything to be perfect.

“Yes, we are taking workshops being conducted by theatre experts, which is great for me as I come from a stage background as well,” Mallika told Mirror.“We’ve had two sessions so far, one of which was conducted on a one-on-one basis.”

According to the comedienne, who’s raked up over three lakh followers on Instagram alone with caricatures and sketches, the trio brainstorms their roles as judges-to-be, and how they will mentor contestants in the workshops. “At the end of the day, it’s about making them better, not about criticising and/ or evaluating.”