I don’t want to repeat my mistakes: Taapsee

A slow yet steady approach — that’s actor Taapsee Pannu’s mantra for signing films in Bollywood. She has done six films — including Chashme Baddoor, Baby, Pink, and Naam Shabana — since she debuted in 2013, and is content with her pace. The 30-year-old, however, admits that people put pressure on her after Pink released to rave reviews last year.

“I’d keep hearing things like, ‘What’s taking you so much time, Why are you not signing films, Are you not getting offers?’ I was made to feel as if I am a snail trying to really crawl,” says Taapsee, who did not give in because she did not want to “repeat her mistakes”. A popular name in the South film industry, she says she has learnt how to sustain herself in cinema. “I know how it is to score a hit and what happens when your film flops. I know how equations change... That’s why I signed films that I was sure of. They might not work at the box office, but at least I would not think badly about myself [for choosing them].”

So, when Taapsee ventured into Bollywood, she wanted to apply those learnings. “I knew I’ve to hit the nail at the right place every time because one wrong move in these initial stages, and I’ll be sent back home because I don’t belong to the industry. I don’t have anyone to help me get another good film if one doesn’t work. So I will only have to climb basis my films and how they do,” says the actor.

Taapsee’s upcoming films include Judwaa 2 alongside Varun Dhawan, and Anubhav Sinha’s film, Mulk, co-starring Rishi Kapoor. “So far, it’s going great and as per the plan,” she says.