Rasika Dugal: Self-shooting at home a lot of work but great fun

Mumbai: Actress Rasika Dugal says self-shooting at home comes with a lot of challenges, but is “great fun”.

She self-shot a short film “Banana Bread”, which also stars her husband Mukul Chadda.

“I felt the need to create something to explore, in a fun way, the myriad feelings of these strange times. I was also excited about taking on the challenge to shoot from home,” Rasika said.

“To see if we could set-up frame, shoot the film, arrange the props, record sound, keep continuity, take care of hair and make-up, manage the files, transfer the footage….. basically, double up for an entire film unit. It was a lot of work but also great fun. Also, this is my first attempt at writing… So many firsts on this one,” she added.

“Banana Bread” is a funny tale about love and loneliness in times of distancing. In sync with the lockdown rules, the film was shot by the couple in their home and directed remotely by Srinivas Sunderajan.

Talking about the movie, Mukul said: “When Rasika first suggested we shoot something in the lockdown, I jumped at it. Between the humdrum of household chores, we fitted in a time slot to brainstorm. Coffee and Ideas – that was the exciting part of the day. We started with four concepts, developed this one, wrote a draft, refined it, and voila — we had a script… Shooting in lockdown was intense – we had to quadruple up on duties – but also felt very rewarding.”