A star is born
While Taapsee Pannu’s career has seen a meteoric rise, the new star on the Bollywood block tells Seema Sinha she wants more, and on her own terms
Like the name suggests, Thappad, meaning slap, one of Bollywood’s last big releases, hits hard – on claustrophobic stereotypes, on constricting attitudes and on the unpalatable truths about a tradition of entitlement that men are known to enjoy. An eloquent portrayal of a society that is often misogynistic and mostly treats men as first among equals, the film exposes the dark underbelly of society’s patriarchy in a manner that is uncomfortable, to say the least, for both men and women. But it’s not the film we are here to talk about; it is Taapsee Pannu, the 32-year-old actress who breathes life into her onscreen character Amrita, with her effortless girl-nextdoor appeal. Taapsee, who made her debut in the film industry in K. Raghavendra Rao’s 2010 Telugu romantic musical Jhummandi Naadam, has, in just a decade, taken centrestage with the success of Thappad, with only her face on the poster. Later in the year, she’ll be seen headlining director Vinil Mathew’s mystery thriller, Haseen Dillruba. She will also be seen in the titular role in Rashmi Rocket, about a sprinter from Gujarat, and as Indian cricketer Mithali Raj in the biopic Shabaash Mithu, slated for release next year. She’s also in the Hindi remake of the German cult classic Run Lola Run, set to hit theatres next year. ‘It is a new-age genre. I’ll be doing comedy for the first time,’ says the actress, in an exclusive telephone interview with Friday.
BREAKOUT ROLES
With so many upcoming films, Taapsee has had little time to celebrate Thappad’s success. ‘On the day of its release I was in Haridwar to shoot for Haseen Dillruba,’ says the modelturned-actress. ‘I was only celebrating from the calls and messages. Every morning we’d wake up to long, beautiful notes. I think people will remember us for a very long time for doing this film. There might be many Rs200 and 300 crore [Rs2 billion and 3 billion] films, but we forget them after a few weeks. will be Thappad saab remembered for years to come. As Javed [filmmaker Javed Akhtar] said, this film will be a milestone.’ Back in Mumbai now as the shoot had to be stopped due to the spread of coronavirus, and although homebound, Taapsee sounds as cheerful and spirited as she always is. ‘I’ve
made a time-table for myself from 7am to 10pm and divided my time doing workouts, cooking, cleaning, reading, replying to work emails, learning something new, watching a movie every day…There’s lots to do if you really want to make good use of the time.’ Taapsee has clearly been making good use of her time since she came under the spotlights, finding success first in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam commercial cinema. Her breakout role in Bollywood was the 2016 release Pink. While Amitabh Bachchan may have been the star of the intense courtroom drama, Taapsee, as Minal, the victim of a molestation, grabbed the attention of audiences across the country. ‘She has a certain fire in her mind and body,’ says Pink’s director Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury, attempting to analyse the star’s USP. ‘When an intelligent actor chooses the right script and is also good and hardworking, success cannot elude them. She’s not afraid of failure – the most important thing for any creative endeavour. If you’re afraid, it’s over.’
INTELLIGENCE, SPONTANEITY, DEPTH
Unafraid to pick challenging roles, Taapsee has established herself as an intelligent actor who infuses spontaneity and depth into her performances. Choosing to collaborate with directors such as Aniruddha, Anubhav Sinha and Anurag Kashyap – known to be brave, outspoken, willing to push the boundaries of cinema – she proved she’s not one to succumb to stereotypes, even while ensuring she gets to play meaty parts; think the determined lawyer in Mulk, the tempestuous lover in Manmarziyaan, the docile housewife in Thappad ... ‘Taapsee is so much more interested in what the film is trying to do than where her character is headed,’ says Thappad director, Anubhav Sinha. ‘It’s something many actors don’t understand ... she tries to be as transparent as possible as an actor. There’s a choice to be made between being the character or the actor that’s playing that character. She chooses the former...’ Journalist and film critic Rajeev Masand seconds that. ‘Taapsee has become the go-to girl for filmmakers who are fearless and who are also looking for [an actor] who is fearless. She’s making choices that are quite bold, brave, and because she made those choices early in her career, they are now yielding solid results. ‘She is getting solo heroine projects and is able to green-light a film just by her being in it. It is one thing to be a very fine actress and another to be able to generate money and have box-office clout. You can mount a film on her shoulders. Hers is a self-made career and she has a lot of pride in that.’
‘I HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE’
And Taapsee knows the importance of the commerce element in a film. ‘I’m aware of the box office because at the end of the day [film is a] business. [My producers must be confident] that I can lead a film that is commercially successful. Every actor who wants to become a star will have that pressure.’ But it’s a pressure the actress enjoys, just as she does tags such as ‘perfect muse for a courageous story-teller’, ‘torch-bearer of strong women-driven cinema’, among others. ‘Most of the tags that are given to me are good and I don’t shy away from any of them,’ says Taapsee, who has won more than 20 awards. She is also not averse to pushing boundaries when it comes to work. ‘Directors come to me with characters that they think yeh koi aur nahi karega, yeh yahi karegi (No other actress will play this part, only Taapsee will). If I have to push myself physically, if I have to portray certain grey characters, it’s fine.’ And she has. In Haseen Dillruba, for instance, a love story/murder mystery where although she was ‘not the first, second or even the third choice’, the actress grabbed the role. ‘My character has shades that you might not like. I don’t mind people hating me,’ she says. She credits the confidence she earned from Pink for helping her choose the roles that have made her a household name now. ‘Every year, I’ve been trying to push the envelope a little and that is because of the confidence [I gathered] in the previous years [since Pink],’ she says. ‘Why did I take that leap of faith with all these films? Because I feel I have nothing to lose. That has been my way of judging everything in life, not just films. Whenever I have to try to do a new thing, learn a new sport, or new art form, or even if I have to take a big step of taking a loan to buy a house, I always think “What’s the worst that can happen? What is the biggest fear?” It won’t kill you. You will get through and make something happen. I then go ahead and take the plunge. If I want to get up happy every day, working hard for 12 to 14 hours, it has to be now. I don’t live in the future.’
REEL VS REAL STARS
Does she feel intimidated by big stars? Not really, she says. ‘In fact, I’m more awestruck by sports stars. I feel absolutely honoured to be playing Mithali Raj.’ Does she consider herself a star or an actor? Taapsee is quick to answer: ‘I’d want to be a star. I’d want to be called a star who can act. For me, the definition of star is someone who has the box-office pull. When he or she features on a poster people want to watch it without waiting for word-of-mouth. ‘Like how it is with Salman Khan or Akshay Kumar. That is true stardom for me. I definitely would want to be that person who my audience trusts blindly.’
GETTING...AND STAYING... IN CHARACTER
Getting into the skin of a character can be tough, challenging, draining and intense, admits the star. ‘I’m not a trained actor so I don’t know the tricks of getting in and getting out (of a character). The only way I [become] a character is by psyching and brainwashing myself into believing that that’s me. Very often, these are oneschedule films, so for around 40 days I believe that I’m this character. ‘After a couple of days your psyche starts changing and you actually start feeling like that character.’ The trouble, she says, is when the shoot is over. The character ‘doesn’t leave you completely. I experience mood swings. So I don’t know when I will suddenly burn out... But then, this is the price you have to pay to be an actor.’