Taapsee Pannu

I am scared when people say ‘she’s at her career best’

2 020 for sure threw a lot of things and plans out of array. But for Taapsee Pannu, the year started, and is ending on a professional high. Thappad released in February to good reviews and box of ice collections, before the Covid 19 pandemic soon took over.

As soon as the lockdown ended, she was back to work, with as many as four ilms lined up nextRashmi Rocket, Loop Lapeta, Haseen Dilruba and Shabaash Mithu. Talking about her hectic schedule, Pannu says, “I am yet to inish Rashmi... I literally have no life. My entire day is divided between sleeping, working and working out. Every 15 minutes are rationed. There is no time for anything else now.”

Clearly, the 33-year-old has a lot on her plate. She doesn’t believe this is her ‘purple patch’ just yet though.

“Because patches last for a limited time. I am very scared when I read reviews and people say ‘she’s at the best of her game’ or at her career best. It’s scary because then you feel there is going to be a decline. If you reach the peak, the only way ahead is to come down, and that’s a crazy thought,” she confesses.

What she however feels happy about is that her choices are getting ‘validated’. Pannu says she goes through a lot of ‘testing’ in terms of iltering content. She explains this is because she is seen in multiple projects back to back. “People see me in three-four ilms a year, sometimes (I almost think) people might get too bored of me, or too much of me. If you are coming so many times, you have to make sure that your content is different from the other, and people don’t really get bored. Whatever you do should be different from what you have done before, otherwise you might just get too monotonous for people. But the fact is none of them are worth dropping!,” she explains.

DON’T CALL IT THE ‘PURPLE PATCH’

On the first anniversary of her superhit film Mardaani 2, Rani Mukerji

speaks about how the acclaimed franchise is a mirror to society

Inspired by shocking true crimes

against women by juveniles,

Mardaani 2 saw Rani in a race

against time to capture a brutal

serial rapist who systematically

targets women. The ilm received

incredible appreciation from the

media and critics and took the gritty

cop franchise forward. On the irst

anniversary of the thriller, Rani

opened franchise "The important franchise up is to about close me, of not why Mardaani to her only the heart. Mardaani because is very

it's empowerment talking about and women certain

brutalities that take place on

women, and there is a woman, who

is the main protagonist, who is

standing up against all of this, it is

also an informative ilm as it

projects a lot of things women need

to be aware of. It speaks about all of

that because in a society we tend to

always try to see the positive things.

Though we want to think about

positivity and good things but in

reality, certain people have bad

intentions and on a bad day we can

encounter them," says the actress.

Rani adds, "So, I think Mardaani is

really a ilm which empowers a

woman to think that they are

strong. I think Mardaani as a

franchise gives a lot of hope and

courage to women. When they are

watching it, they feel that they are

getting introduced to their inner

strength, so I think the entire

franchise for and the being fact that what it it was was received made

the way we wanted it to be received,

makes the franchise truly, truly

special. When we set out to make a

ilm as ilmmakers and as people

who are a part of a project, we had

certain aspirations for the ilm but

to see those aspirations getting

ful illed and resonate with the

women, I think, is so heartening."

Rani reveals that the response she

got from female cops across India

has been overwhelming. She says,

"Whenever I have met lady cops,

they have not reacted to just the

ilm. They have reacted to the

portrayal of Shivani Shivaji Roy,

which they feel is very positive and

it showcases the entire gamut of

things that they have to deal with

during the course of their lives and

career. The credit for that should

actually go to the writer and those

who have envisaged Mardaani as a

franchise which is Adi, Gopi

(Puthran – director and writer),

Pradeep da (Sarkar) put together

because I think the fact is the actors

get to portray a character only when

it's a written and leshed out well."

She adds, "I think the fact that they

have really, really taken the time

and energy to actually build

Shivani's character around real-life

woman cops, I think that also adds

to the persona of the ilm, so it

makes everything look real and you

could encounter somebody like that

in your lifetime. She is relatable and

larger than life in her actions, in

terms of the courage. She is larger

than life."

‘Rani Mukerji: Mardaani As A Franchise Gives Hope And Courage To Women’