‘This film had been written for a guy’

Taapsee Pannu reveals that the original script of Badla had a male lead

She’s at the top of her game right now, thanks to her role in the critically acclaimed film, Mulk (2018), and now, actor Taapsee Pannu is getting rave reviews for her performance in the recent release, Badla. The film has not just been praised by the critics, but is a hit at the box office as well.

Taapsee says, “I always do movies I believe will do box office numbers. Sometimes, I am proven right; sometimes, not really. But every time I am proven right, I get the courage and confidence to push the envelope further. And this is exactly what Badla did for me. I have got more confidence in my intuition and confidence in my audience as well, that they are in sync with me and my choices.” However, Taapsee reveals that the film originally had a different cast. “The script originally had been written for a guy. The producer was kind enough to swap it when I requested. I was originally offered the role of the girlfriend, which is now a male character. I called Sujoy (Ghosh, director) and said ‘it will be brilliant if you come on board’. He read the script but was not sure whether or not to do it. I [later] got to know that he and Mr (Amitabh) Bachchan are on board. I keep teasing him that it’s because of Mr Bachchan and not me, that he wanted to do the film,” she says. But there weren’t any hard feelings because of this, as Taapsee herself had been “waiting” to work with Sujoy.

“All’s well that ends well. We had the perfect cast and crew. I had been waiting to work with Sujoy. For four years, after Baby’s (2015) release, we had been in touch to make some project. This one happened, in a karmic way,” says Taapsee.

Since the film revolves around a woman, ask Taapsee whether the decision to release the film on Women’s Day was a strategic one. However, Taapsee says that it was a pleasant coincidence.

“I was the only one whose mind started working when I realised it’s Women’s Day when the date was announced. I was pleasantly surprised. I always wanted one of my films to release on this day because of the kind of roles I end up doing most of the time and the image I have.

I never thought it will be this one. There are so many other pro-women kind of films; this had got nothing to do with ‘being a woman’, but yes, it’s strong,” she signs off.