Itishree Misra (BOMBAY TIMES; November 18, 2018)

Actress Taapsee Pannu, known for speaking her heart out, was at her best at an event organised by a women entrepreneurs’ organisation in Lucknow, recently. Among other things, the actress speaks to us about being a walking-talking #nofilter and playing girl-next-door characters in films. Read on:

‘I AM HAPPY WITH THE WAY MULK WAS RECEIVED’
Ecstatic about the appreciation that her film Mulk received, she says, “I am very happy with the response. I’m still answering messages of people congratulating me. Jo log theatre mein nahi dekh paye thay and they watched it later, unke abhi messages aa rahe hain ki we regret not seeing it earlier. It’s like the film has released again. National Award se badh ke hamein recognition mil gaya hai.” But initially some people were apprehensive about her decision to portray another controversial character. “People would ask me what is the need to do this film? They would say, ‘Kyun karna hai, apne aap ko prove toh kar liya hai as an actress by doing a film of the same genre (Pink), kya zaroorat thi isko accept karne ki’? Baki chhodiye, my own team was unsure about me doing this film. I didn’t understand how to convince people that this is the film and the audience bahut zabardast tareeke se iss film ko receive karegi. It was my gut feeling because main bhi ek audience hoon. When I was so excited after reading the script of Mulk, why would my audience not be? I couldn’t even talk about the film because people had such doubts about the film and me doing it.”

‘I AM AN OUTSIDER AND PROUD OF IT’
Not afraid to speak her mind out in a relatively conservative industry where diplomacy is the key to success, Taapsee says she’s thankful she doesn’t need to switch on her filter before speaking. We wonder if her being an outsider has anything to do with this. “You’re only as much of an outsider as much as you think you are. I am an outsider and honestly, I am very proud of it. That’s why I don’t have this baggage of behaving a certain way kyunki kisi ko nahi pata hai ki mere papa ka naam kya hai and mujhe unka naam nahi bachana hai. Mujhe apne khud ka naam bachana hai and mein wahi kar rahi hoon. That’s why I’m so outspoken, because I don’t have a surname or a father or a mother’s name to protect saying unke image pe problem aa jayegi if I say this or that. Log kya kahenge, that I don’t have to worry about because of the tag of an outsider. That’s why perhaps I am able to talk, but a lot of people in the industry don’t talk because they’re always concerned about the repercussions on their families. I never think before answering. I don’t need to switch on my filter before talking. I’m walking-talking #nofilter,” she declares succinctly.

‘I AM HAPPY TO HAVE AN IMAGE IN BOLLYWOOD’
Already reckoned as an actress who does meaningful cinema, Taapsee says she likes to choose characters that resonate with her. “In all my films I have a character jiske bina picture aage nahi badhegi. She will have a say and she will have her own mind. And thank God that I have that image. People spend their entire life in creating an image and no one remembers them. I, from where I have come, have created an image of being an actress who portrays strong characters and that in itself is big enough. I do films that I feel I will spend my hard earned money on or spend three precious hours of my life watching. I choose characters which I feel should resonate with me. I should feel connected to the character and only then will I be able to do justice to it. I lead a very normal life and I come from a very normal background, so I like to portray such characters. I have done most of my films in which I am dressed very unlike a heroine, wearing very ordinary clothes. Kapde thodi na decide karte hain ki aapki kitni unchi hone wali hai. I don’t think it’s right for me, as an actor, to put myself on a pedestal and think of myself as superior to anyone when I’m portraying a girl next door on screen. I have to come to that level of an ordinary girl to play that character convincingly,” she says.

‘DON’T DILUTE THE #METOO MOVEMENT’
When asked about the #MeToo movement, Taapsee says that she supports the movement, but with conditions attached. “I will not glorify things by naming them specifically, because they don’t deserve to be. Wherever there is power, it is misused, not just in the film industry, but in all industries. As the late Stan Lee said, ‘With great power comes bigger responsibility’. So I think it’s something we all should stand by. It’s like something that starts for good and you over-exploit it and then it actually becomes bad for people who actually need that movement for good. So, you’re actually shutting the opportunities of justice for the women who really need it by using it in a wrong way. Obviously, every coin has two sides and let’s not have the negative side overpower the positive one.

Enough has been said about the movement, a lot has been discussed, and if you ask me honestly, I say we don’t have women at the same level as men in multiple aspects. Because of that, the power ratio is so divided, and that is why these problems exist. It can only be solved when we have equal number of women and men at all levels,” she opined.