Actor Taapsee Pannu attended a special on Sunday, where she talked about her standing in the film industry, and how she recently discovered her sensuality on-screen.
During the session named Haseena Bemisaal, the actor revealed that filmmakers and writers don’t offer her films headlined by big heroes, because they assume she wouldn’t say yes to those stories.
The 37-year-old said, “My managers often tell me that people don’t come to me with films featuring big heroes. They think ki ye toh karegi nahi. But, it’s not the same. When I do a film with a big hero, the pressure on making the film work is not on me.”
Taapsee referred to her 2023 release, Dunki, with Shah Rukh Khan, and highlighted how it belonged to the film’s director and the superstar, while she could take a break and relax during the release. “Like in Dunki, it was Hirani and SRK, and I was relaxing. I want to do such films, with substantial roles, of course, but without any pressure. I want to do good roles, meaty characters, and it doesn’t matter if it’s opposite a big hero,” she explained.
Taapsee moved on to talk about evolving as an actor and how playing Rani in Haseen Dillruba helped her. The actor credited the film for letting her discover her sensuality on the screen. She said nobody ever saw her in that light, and the Netflix film changed that perception of her.
Taapsee laughed and said the film made her comfortable wearing sarees, and now she feels sensual. “I never explored female sensuality before on-screen. Nobody thought of me that way. Now, I understand it. I channelise it now. It was a discovery for me. My takeaway from Rani is realising a sensual side of mine.”
But, is she like Rani in her real life as well? Taapsee clearly denied having any qualities like her popular character. She called herself ‘raw’ and shared, “She’s very elegantly sensual. I am a little too raw. She’s more poised and proper. I am a little more brash. And I am not as clever as her.”
Taapsee is currently gearing up for her next film titled Gandhaari, which features her in an action role. Written and produced by Kanika Dhillon, who also recently produced Kriti Sanon’s Do Patti, the film features the actor in the role of a fierce mother.
“I wanted to do action in a different story. And hence, Gandhaari. Kanika has written and produced it. It will be a mother-daughter action. In a sense that it’s a mother’s revenge and angst for her daughter. But, it’s not spy. If you’ll like it, then we’ll make it into a series,” she informed the audience at the event.
Taap appreciated Shah Rukh Khan for being a ‘well-read’ and a ‘wholesome’ superstar. She touched upon many things from her struggles, to identifying her likes and dislikes as an actor, and fronting women-led cinema in her career.
