Taapsee Pannu is one of the few actresses who has successfully and skillfully balanced her work in Bollywood along with notable projects in Tamil and Telugu film industries. She made her debut in 2010 with the Telugu film Jhummandi Nadam, and went on to be a part of over a dozen South films including Aadukalam (2011) and Mr Perfect (2011), before she stepped into Bollywood with Chashme Baddoor (2013).

Over the years, while she cemented her position in Bollywood with films like Baby (2015), Pink (2016), Judwaa 2 (2017), Badla (2019) and Thappad (2020), among others, she continued to be a part of South films. Talking about the balancing act, Taapsee says, “A lot of people had told me that I would have to compromise on one (industry) for the other. I did not understand the logic behind it. The one thing I understood was that when I started off in Hindi films, I wanted to give it more attention, as I had to get used to this industry and be more visible here. But once you have done a fair amount of work in both the industries, then everybody knows what you are capable of. I didn’t worry about making my presence felt more in one industry than the other.”

The actress, who recently shot for her Tamil film with actor Vijay Sethupathi in Jaipur, says that she ensures that she does at least one South film every year. She explains, “I don’t have a reason to uproot myself from there. People there are really good to work with. The audience there has liked my films for so many years and continue to do so even after I started working in Hindi films.”

Taapsee feels that doing films in multiple industries has helped her become a better actress. She elaborates, “Acting is a skill, the more you use it, the better it becomes. Working in different industries, environments and cultures has helped me grow as an actor and a human being. Every time I start a new film, I have to brush up my Tamil or Telugu language skills, which is a learning experience. I consider myself lucky, else who gets the privilege of working in different languages and being accepted in more than one industry? I think it is a luxury.”