Actress Rytasha Rathore has always chosen to be part of some rather interesting projects in all these years. She first appeared in the television series, Badho Bahu and was hailed for her performance as a simple and sweet girl who has to deal with how society perceives her because of her appearance. She later went on to feature in Rohan Sippy‘s SideHero (2018) and VICE India’s documentary, Sex Rated: The Vice Guide to Sex in India (2018). The actress has also appeared in short videos for YouTube channels like FilterCopy and BuzzFeed.
Her latest outing was Netflix’s, Masaba Masaba, where she played the role of Gia Irani, Masaba’s best friend. The series, which released on Netflix a few days ago, chronicles the life and struggles of the real-life mother-daughter duo — Masaba Gupta and Neena Gupta. One of the characters which struck a chord with me was Gia’s — she is strong, independent and unapologetically herself, no matter what life throws on her. So when I got an opportunity to indulge in a tête-à-tête with her, I was super excited. Here are the excerpts from the interview.
What was your reaction when you were offered to play Gia Irani in Masaba Masaba?
So, I auditioned for Gia when the part wasn’t even fully fleshed out yet. They were still writing her, so I just auditioned and added a lot of my own quirks to it and then I got a call saying that I’ve got the part, so I was actually very happy because this is a role which I already identified with and I knew that this was a role I could play really well.
What are the similarities between you and Gia?
Gia and I are both very funny and both very open-minded, independent, strong-willed and don’t take life too seriously. I think we know how to enjoy it, we know how to balance things and of course, we own our sexuality, which I think is great.
How was your experience like working with the cast and crew?
It was very enriching for me to be around that kind of female energy, especially having Sonam as our director and Ashvini as our producer. Even Masaba, Neena ji and everyone; like such wonderful feminine energy. So, I had a great time.
You are someone who has always promoted body positivity. The show, too, is somewhere about accepting yourself. What message would you like to give the women out there?
I think the message that young women need today is that they are beautiful the way they are and they don’t need to live up to societies cookie cutter ideal of what beauty is or what desirability is or what success is and that’s great that this show also pushes that to be to real and flawed.
What has been your takeaway from working on this project?
My takeaway from working on this project has been, I’ll just be honest, it has reaffirmed my faith in myself that I am good at what I do, and I should be doing this for a long time.
In the industry today, main-stream cinema still has it’s own moulds and perceptions about how a ‘heroine’ should be. What do you have to say about that?
About this, I feel every woman is a heroine in her own life and I think it’s time that main-stream cinema opens its eyes to that and has women of various colours, shapes, sizes to play the main protagonist.
After Masaba Masaba, what’s next in store for Rytasha?
Well, it’s a very exciting thing which I started shooting for before lockdown; it is a very small role. But it’s a very cool project, again directed by a woman, and I can’t wait for that to release. But, that will come out sometime next year because we’re not done shooting yet.
I sure cannot wait to see more of Rytasha on our screens!