Actor Taapsee Pannu’s joy and excitement knew no bounds after she bagged filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani’s Dunki, co-starring Shah Rukh Khan. “It is probably the biggest I could have ever got,” exclaims Pannu, adding, “It’s too good to be true. I never thought I’ll someday reach this, forget about so soon. So, I wasn’t talking about it, as I just didn’t want to jinx it in any way.”

Asked about her first reaction on knowing that she’s going to star in such a big project, Pannu says, “I don’t think it can ever get bigger than this for me. The disbelief of being a part of it was lingering on, till the time I reported on set and the first day of shoot was done.”

Pannu reveals that her sister, Shagun, kept asking, even after the first day of the shoot — “Tu abhi bhi hai na film mein?” “My parents, however, didn’t give me any noticeable reaction. Maybe they’ve also understood that till the time it happens, let’s not celebrate too early,” she adds.

It was in 2020 when reports first surfaced that Hirani is considering Pannu for his next, and she admits she thought it to be “yet another rumour, which will make you happy for a while, but nothing’s going to happen”.

However, a call from Hirani was all it took to change everything for her. “He said, ‘Now that it’s already out, let me officially call you and say that I’m doing this film, and I’d love for you to be a part of it.’ Raju sir was so excited about the project that on the first call itself, he started narrating the first two scenes,” recounts the actor, who has shot for almost 10 days on the film.

So what was a bigger joy — being directed by Hirani or sharing screen with Khan? “Actually, both in different ways. Films are a director’s medium. I’m not a very trained actor, so I get excited to know who’s going to direct me. I was looking forward to working with Raju sir who makes stories so simple, yet so likeable, engrossing and charming. He doesn’t make intense multi-layered, multi-twisted cinema, yet it’s captivating. Also, the kind of range and age group of audience that connects with his films is huge,” she shares, adding, “With Shah Rukh sir, what I was looking forward to the most was spending time off-screen with him, where we can just chat. I love his personality beyond films as well — the wit, humour and experience he has, and the honesty with which he narrates his experiences.”

In her tweet announcing the film, Pannu had written, “It’s hard to make it till here, and it’s harder when you are all by yourself... Cheers to honesty, hard work and perseverance.” Elaborating on what she meant by “all by yourself”, the actor says, “Sitting in Delhi, 10-12 years ago, I’d have possibly said to myself, ‘Yeh kaise ho sakta hai?’ At max, you’d be able to do a few noticeable films in your career, that’s about it... I have no one to make a call [to a filmmaker] and push my name [for a project]. So, the thrill as someone who could never even imagine this as a dream, and have this call come from Rajkumar Hirani himself... this is [the most] neat and credible way of getting something.”