Time and again, Taapsee Pannu has proved her acting prowess and won the hearts of the audience. It’s not just her acting but her overall personality that makes her different. One of the few actresses, who is quite vocal about her thoughts, Taapsee bared her soul during a session — Women in Lead at the ongoing International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2019 in Goa.
“Oh my god, I am surprised so many people have come to see me,” she quipped after seeing the fully-packed auditorium. The actress then went on to talk about how she got into acting, how she selects her scripts, her middle-class upbringing and stardom.
“I never took part in drama or acting in my college. I was in the dance society and we used to have these huge fights with the drama society because we had the same space to practise. I used to laugh at them for being so over-enthusiastic about drama,” said the Saand ki Aankh actress.
Her passion for acting developed over a period of time. “I started to like acting after my first film released because I was trying to experiment with life. I had finished my engineering and got through campus selection. I had cracked MBA but I thought I could experiment with life for a year. I was getting these movie offers from South. I was also trying to prove to my parents that if I want, I can do it,” she added.
When asked how she judged her scripts, Taapsee, who has worked in films like Naam Shabana, Badla and Pink, said, “I would wonder if I would like to pay my hard earned money to watch the film and spend those precious two or two and half hours in the theatre. I should not feel, ‘I have wasted my time’. The second thought is about my character — ‘Will I be able to make such an impact on my audience that they will take me back home?’. I want my kids to be proud of my films. When all of this ends, I would like to get married, have a family. I don’t want my children to feel awkward and embarrassed.”
Taapsee said that she is able to present her characters so convincingly on screen because of her regular middle-class upbringing. “I have seen my life through my eyes and not through tinted glasses and silver spoon. I have had a regular kind of childhood. I was never over-protected or pampered. That’s why the audience can relate to my characters and find it real,” she said.
When asked if audiences like real stories and characters, she quipped, “Today, everyone wants to be the hero of their own story. When you see a protagonist who is flawed but real, you think, ‘If that person can do it, I can also do it’. You start seeing yourself and that’s why these films are successful,” she said.
Sharing an anecdote on how Badla happened, Taapsee said that the person who bought the rights of the Spanish film, The Invisible Guest, had sent her the script. “In the original film, the man is the antagonist. But I asked him to change the character because I wanted to the play the villain. It took us a year and a half or so to find a director. I soon came to realise that we have come to a phase where an actress can say, ‘I want this part and people will agree to it'.”
Commenting on how the box-office can change the fate of women-centric films, Taapsee said, “If the audience comes to watch these films and one film works, five to 10 films will be announced.” The length of the character does not matter to her (she played a 10 minute part in Baby). “Either you give me the central character or a small part which offers something new, which people do not expect from me,” she said.
Talking about films and stardom, the actress said that her parents, who still live in Delhi, haven’t yet understood the stardom surrounding her. “Their being normal helps me stay grounded. I do not have any fancy pictures of mine at my home in Mumbai or Delhi. Films are not the ‘be all and end all of life’. I will leave acting the day I stop enjoying my work. There is no point in dragging myself out of bed to get to work. If I am not enjoying my work, I will stop doing it and will do something else,” she added.
The discussion moved on to social media and Taapsee, who is quite active on it, said that she has learnt to be indifferent to trolls. “I used to get affected in the beginning of my career but not anymore. I am usually checking my social media while travelling and if I am in a good mood, I reply to some of the comments. The worst thing to do is ignore,” she added.
Before the session ended, Taapsee said that she wanted to play an Indian superhero in an Avenger movie. “I would love to play Robert Downey Jr’s love interest. In fact, I cried when Iron Man died in the last Avenger movie,” she said before signing off.
