Exploring magic realism with Fairy Folk, Mukul Chadda shares how he and actor-wife Rasika improvised every scene
Mukul Chadda and Rasika Dugal
When Mukul Chadda heard the concept of Fairy Folk, he knew it would be a challenge. But the actor had two reasons to say yes to the fantasy drama—it explored magic realism, a genre rarely tackled in Hindi cinema. Also, in a departure from conventional filming practices, director Karan Gour wanted to delve into improv, giving leads Chadda and Rasika Dugal the freedom to improvise scenes constantly. “The entire film is improvised, every single dialogue! Karan had a structure of 80-odd scenes. So, we roughly knew what had to happen in each scene, but not how it would happen. That’s where every actor contributed by improvising their own lines and movements. Some takes were as long as 25 minutes,” exclaims the actor.
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Fairy Folk revolves around a couple that has a chance encounter with a hairless, genderless being whose presence tests their relationship. Filming the magic realism offering was as difficult as it was fun, says Chadda. “We had to react to bizarre situations as regular people would, playing it as close to reality as possible. This film touches on various ideas —gender identity, desire, man’s quest for perfection and the futility of it.”
If his character Mohit’s emotional journey appealed to him, sharing screen space with actor-wife Dugal only enhanced the experience. “Rasika is a fabulous actor; she is giving and always has interesting ideas on set. I’m sure our real-life familiarity reflects on reel as we always take a bit of ourselves into any role we play. But I’d like to believe that Rasika and I, being professional actors, would have still been able to pull this off were we not married.”
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