Actor Rubina Dilaik isn’t much picky about either concept of a show or character she’s portraying. Having played varied roles on the small screen — from a docile wife, to a quirky Punjabi girl, to a fun loving genie and a transgender, too — she says it’s in the hands of the performer to make any character “larger than life”.
She explains, “It’s not like that the character needs to be different and the story needs to be out-of-the-box, and only then I’ll do it. I believe that actors can breathe life into any character. A daily soap is more about the reliability of the character than anything else.”
Unlike many others who have spoken about TV content becoming regressive, Dilaik has a different take on the subject. She opines that there are a variety of shows on TV that cater to different sensibilities and audiences.
“Now, if these shows are enjoying good TRPs, that means people are watching them. I understand if people want TV to do better work, but pulling (the medium) down every single time isn’t the right approach. As an artiste, I don’t believe in any kind of labelling. I prefer concentrating on my performance and leave the rest to the audience,” she says.
Talking about actors, who’ve been a part of the medium and are expressing similar views, Dilaik says they should work towards making things better and not keep complaining.
The 33-year-old elaborates, “Those who’ve done TV and are now saying they don’t want to be a part of it because they think content here is getting regressive, that I’d say is hypocrisy. This might just be an excuse for transitioning to other mediums or may be when certain projects don’t materialise, they end up saying such things. Aap apni karan bhoomi ke baare mein yeh kaise bol sakte ho? Why don’t you be the change that you want to see?” she asks.
Asked if she has actively been looking out to foray into films, Dilaik says she’s keeping her options open, but cautious because of her past experience.
“An artiste is defined by his or her talent and not by the medium. So, why would I say no to web or films? But I didn’t have good experience during a few meetings that I went for to discuss films. Some directly called TV a low key medium, others were like, ‘Oh you’ve done this show, oh you come from a small town’. So, I can’t trade my dignity to be on the silver screen. I can only work if I get respect and accepted as an actor,” says Dilaik, who along with husband, actor Abhinav Shukla, and their families, have been staying in her hometown Shimla.
“We’re planning to base ourselves here for sometime given the Covid situation. In between, we went to Mumbai to shoot and would keep doing that. If I start working on a daily soap, then we might return to Mumbai,” she concludes.
