Titas Chowdhury (HINDUSTAN TIMES; December 23, 2019)

Taapsee Pannu is happy with the way 2019 has treated her. Her performances in Badla and Saand Ki Aankh gained rave reviews. Another of her film, Mission Mangal crossed the ₹150 crore mark and became one of the highest grossing films of the year. Ask Taapsee about her professional trajectory this year and she says, “All of them, including my regional film, Game Over, were driven by strong female characters. I feel validated to see that I have audiences of all kinds who would want to see my films provided the content is good.”

She’s happy that viewers are giving her films a chance and accepting them. “It might have taken them some time to accept my films but word-of-mouth has played an instrumental role. I’m glad that the audience is receptive and aren’t completely shunning my films. The fact that my choice as an actor is getting accepted is giving me huge confidence. Every year, I try to push the envelope, and this year has given me the confidence to push it further,” says Taapsee with a smile.

The actor shares that she has consciously chosen films of diverse genres so that they reflect her versatility and she gets to display her novelty to the audience every time they watch her on the big screen. “If you’re going to do four to five films in a year and you know that a film of yours is going to release every three months, you’ve to make sure that you come with a different film, a different look, a different genre and a different character every time, otherwise, people will get bored of you. That’s particularly important for an actor like me who’s still trying to get her own audience to the theatres because I want them to keep seeing me and giving me more chances before they blindly trust me and start thinking that my movies are worth their time and money,” the 32-year-old elaborates.

And the Manmarziyaan (2018) actor is happy to be climbing the ladder of success slowly. “It’s happening steadily. Things haven’t really changed for me overnight. I didn’t have things easy. Anything that shoots up overnight falls overnight. I want to make a strong foundation for myself so that even if I falter at any point, I won’t come crashing down. I want the audience to believe in me even if I go wrong somewhere,” she signs off.