The Art of Being Seen

Rajshri Deshpande speaks about her latest film, Rangeen, and why she doesn't play by the rules when it comes to female characters

- PUJA TALWAR

Rajshri Deshpande treads the fine line between acting and activism with strong conviction. In a cinematic landscape where female desire is still framed with shame or silence, her portrayal of Naina in Prime Video's Rangeen is nothing short of radical.

Naina is the lonely wife of Adarsh Johri, a small-town newspaper owner played by Vineet Kumar Singh. Stuck in a loveless marriage, she begins an affair with a local gigolo, only to be discovered by her husband, who, devastated, becomes a gigolo himself. While the premise may seem whimsical, Deshpande sees it as a quiet rebellion. "Naina is a woman who dares to ask for more, not just intimacy, but agency," she says, "she's invisible, confined to the margins of her life."