For firebrand Taapsee, playing a submissive woman in Thappad was tough
When it’s a Taapsee Pannu movie, one expects that she will pack a powerful punch with her fierce and bold act. The actor hopes that her next film Thappad, which highlights the subject of domestic violence, will help her go beyond her firebrand image and set a new benchmark in acting.
“Thappad is one of the most challenging projects of my career because I carry this image of a firebrand actor. People think that ise koi maarega toh yeh ghumaake maaregi. We were trying to strip off that firebrand image to make her resonate with the average Indian woman who still keeps things to herself and does not fight back. To make my audience believe that I can play a character that is submissive and vulnerable, was tough,” says Taapsee.
Calling it a passion project for her and director Anubhav Sinha, Taapsee recalls how a casual chat led to the making of this film. “During the promotions of Mulk (2018), I was chatting with Anubhav sir and I told him that if I could ask someone to make a film, it'll be on domestic violence. It is very personal to me and I can’t explain why,” she says.
Right after Sinha finished the shooting of Article 15 (2019), he gave her the script and she took it on.
Taapsee says they consciously didn’t add a heavy dose of domestic violence in the film. “We refrained from making it into a film full of excessive domestic violence because then people might disconnect with it, saying ‘Aisa toh hamare ghar mein nahin hota. Upper middle class ya educated logo ke ghar mein nahin hota hai’. But the reality is that it happens everywhere. So it was deliberately kept like that,” says Taapsee.
The actor, who has always played strong characters in films such as Pink (2016), Naam Shabana (2017) and Badla (2019), shares that while shooting for the film, she felt claustrophobic. “I was desperate to come out of the character. When the shoot got over, I didn’t get back to normalcy for 30 days. I had to take a break from work to disconnect,” shares Taapsee, who has her hands full with films such as Haseen Dilruba, Rashmi Rocket, Shabaash Mithu and Looop Lapeta.