Taapsee Pannu’s earlier comments about director K Raghavendra Rao had created a major controversy.
Without directly naming him, she had once spoken sarcastically about the way heroines were presented in Telugu films and joked about how fruits and flowers were used in songs.
Now, Taapsee has once again spoken about her experience during the shooting of her first film.
She said she did not receive even basic respect on the set and was made to sit alone on a simple plastic chair.
“In my first film, I was the only female on the set, across the cast and crew. I was given a plastic chair, a typical set chair, in one corner. It felt like nobody would come and talk to me or sit with me,” she said.
As a newcomer, Taapsee initially believed that this was how film sets normally functioned.
She said that during some scenes, especially when she had to lie on the floor for trolley shots, cameramen or focus pullers sitting nearby sometimes behaved in ways that made her uncomfortable.
Taapsee said such moments made her question just how much of a minority she was on those sets.
She also spoke about differences in the treatment of male and female actors, particularly when it came to reporting times, hotel rooms and transport.
According to Taapsee, actresses are often asked to arrive much earlier than male co-stars, even when they are working at the same location.
She also claimed that female actors are often given different accommodation and travel arrangements compared to male stars.
Taapsee’s comments have once again brought attention to the working conditions faced by women in the film industry and how much film sets have changed over the years.
On the work front, Taapsee will next be seen in Netflix’s Gandhari, a revenge action-thriller directed by Devashish Makhija and written and produced by Kanika Dhillon.
The film also stars Ishwak Singh, Chhaya Kadam and Swastika Mukherjee and is set to premiere on September 3, 2026.