Taapsee Pannu cancels her birthday, says she will now turn 33 next year
Ankita Chaurasia (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 1, 2020)

Taapsee Pannu has declared her 33rd birthday cancelled. “I refuse to age sitting at home; I’ll turn 33 next year now,” she chuckles, adding that this is the first year that her parents are with her in Mumbai and they will celebrate quietly at home. “I’m not a party person anyway, so birthdays are usually spent with family or on a vacation with my sister,” says the actress, who had brought in the day with a family get-together in Delhi last year. “It reminded me of my childhood birthdays where the extended family came for dinner after a day of ditching the uniform and wearing fancy clothes to school.”

The actress usually takes the day off from work and has never had a surprise celebration. “I’m the one who does all the planning, everyone else just gives it away,” she mock complains, relaying how, this year, her sister ordered a mug for her with ‘Crazy Plant Lady’ inscribed on it as a gift, but didn’t bother to hide it. “Only after I opened it and thanked the brand on social media did she realise, and then was livid I was crediting someone else for it,” guffaws Taapsee.

As of now, the only gift she is looking for is going back to work. “My acting muscles are getting corroded. I’ve been threatening producers to start work or else I’ll forget acting,” she laughs, adding that she will choose from Anurag Kashyap’s supernatural thriller and the Run Lola Run adaptation, Looop Lapeta, to resume work. “The former will require only a month to shoot on two-three locations. Even if we shoot outdoors, there won’t be a lot of people involved. The latter can go on the floors as soon as we get permission to shoot in Goa,” she informs.

But what about her form for sports films, Rashmi Rocket and Shabaash Mithu? “I start the day with functional training and get in my cardio by running 2 km in the evening. If it rains, I climb up the 45 flight of stairs in my building. I’ve been diligent about it,” she says, adding that along with keeping her in shape, working out also helps her stay sane. “I took a break of three-four days to get my wisdom tooth removed and negativity crept in. There’s enough going on to make you depressed and the lack of happy hormones released due to physical activity affects mental health.”

At the beginning of the lockdown, Taapsee had decided to learn a new South Indian language, but it didn’t go to plan. “Instead, I discovered gardening, which took up most of my time. I also cooked a lot and detested it. Now, my mother has taken over the kitchen,” shares the actress, who also spent time reading scripts. “I have finalised two more scripts during the lockdown, which I’ll be signing as soon as I get to pencil a date in my diary. They celebrate real heroes too,” she reveals.

The birthday girl still has Anubhav Sinha and Sujoy Ghosh on her wishlist. “I am a chipkoo person with some people and keep pestering them to come up with a script for me. Anurag has already committed one,” she laughs.

Of late, Taapsee has been making headlines for taking on Kangana Ranaut for calling her a B-grade actress. She insists she’s unfazed by the name-calling. “Thappad, Badla, Mission Mangal, Saand Ki Aankh may be B-grade films in her opinion; I respect that. I took acting seriously after watching The Dirty Picture (2011), followed by Kahaani, English Vinglish (2012) and Queen (2014). For me, the precedence was set by Vidya Balan; Kangana was a huge part of it too. But why take away my credit?” she argues, adding that none of her films are backed by people that the actress is abusing. “I have five films in hand; I’m not a needy outsider. She is defending an outsider by targeting another,” she fumes. “I’ve worked hard to be here. I hope the world becomes kinder and more considerate post the Coronavirus pandemic.”