The point is to be vindictive in a productive way: Taapsee

It’s a beautiful love story. There are no two ways about it,” says Taapsee Pannu about her upcoming film Manmarziyaan. While she says that she could relate with the character’s personality, there was a portion in the script that she couldn’t relate to. And it was the hitch that Taapsee took on as a challenge. “I always want something challenging and a role that doesn’t seem like a cakewalk. I am not doing films just to appease my fan-base. I want to create an audience, who should expect me to do something very different,” she says. The chemistry between the three protagonists in the trailer is fetching positive response. Taapsee says she enjoyed working with Vicky Kaushal and Abhishek Bachchan, and that both have their unique strength as actors. “Vicky’s spontaneity is his biggest strength. We didn’t rehearse for our scenes most of the times. Anurag [Kashyap; director] sir just told us the brief and we went ahead. With Abhishek, it’s totally different. He has an actor who likes to rehearse. What’s most beautiful about Abhishek is his eyes that hold you. When you look into his eyes and perform, everything becomes easy.” The Naam Shabana (2017) actor has a promising line-up this year, and is in a good space in her career now. However, recently she made a statement where she said that at the start of her career, she was getting rejected in all her auditions. “I am not a trained actor. I said it because I don’t know this art of acting in front of the camera with a spotlight on your face, and a person giving you cues. There is no atmosphere, no brief about the story and no co-stars in the frame. I take energy from my director and co-stars, and I feed off that. I don’t have that in auditions,” she says. Even though Taapsee faced her share of struggles during her initial days, it was some of the harshest remarks made by people that motivated her to do well. “I’d taken part in the Miss India contest. During a ramp walk session, I got a remark from Hemant Tridevi [fashion designer]. He shouted at me in front of everyone, and said, ‘had it been in my hands,

During a ramp walk session, I got a remark from Hemant Tridevi [fashion designer]. He shouted at me in front of everyone, and said, ‘had it been in my hands, you wouldn’t have been here’. TAAPSEE PANNU, ACTOR

you wouldn’t have been here’. Also, there was a phase when my films didn’t work in the south. There was a director, who on mentioning my name, would say, ‘Please don’t tell me to cast people like Taapsee in my film’. So, there were people who had written me off. These things hit you hard. I am very vindictive, but the point is to be vindictive in a productive way, and take control in your hands,” says Taapsee, adding, “Somethings are not meant to be. Not that I am aiming to be the number one heroine of this country. I am not running any race. I just want people to remember the work I’ve done when I leave the industry and hopefully have made a difference.”