'Actors can't get stuck in one mould'

Creator Tanuj Chopra and actors Shefali Shah, Rasika Dugal, Rajesh Tailang and Sayani Gupta discuss Delhi Crime season 3

- KARTIK BHARDWAJ

WHEN the first season of Delhi Crime dropped in 2019, Shefali Shah was still three years away from giving a vulnerable, sublime performance as Shailaja in Three of Us (2023).

Rasika Dugal was yet to be part of chamber dramas like Fairy Folk (2024) and Lord Curzon Ki Haveli (2025), and Rajesh Tailang hadn't led a family comedy like Bakaiti (2025) and, in the process, collaborate with Sheeba Chadha for the third time. With the third season of Delhi Crime releasing this week, a lot has changed for both the characters that constitute the investigative team at its centre, and also for the actors that play them. “I remember in the first season I had to ask the makeup team to ensure I had dark circles around my eyes to show the toll the case has taken over my character,” says Rasika, who plays the initially wide-eyed, now hardened cop Neeti Singh. “This time, I didn’t need to. I had developed some natural ones,” she quips.