For Taapsee Pannu the journey in Bollywood so far has been a portrait of courage and unconventionality. She can next be seen in the highly anticipated Pink which opens on 16 September. BollywoodHungama.com’s Subhash K. Jha reports…
"From the time I came into Hindi cinema with Chashme Buddoor I've chosen projects not for their commercial viability but for what I feel was right for me. There are so many fish in the ocean. I had to be a different kind of fish," says Taapsee whose forthcoming Hindi project Pink is one of the most talked-about films in recent times.
"I get a lot of that reaction," Taapsee laughs pleasurably. "When I was offered Pink by (producer) Shoojit Sircar, I knew this was going to be a powerful statement on contemporary women and sexual aggression. The film is set in Delhi and I am a Delhi girl. I know what it is like for women to be heckled, harassed and attacked, and I don't mean attacked just physically. Verbal eve's teasing is as insulting and damaging to a woman as physical assault. Why do we segregate and discriminate one sort of violation from another?"
For Taapsee playing a Delhi girl who is sexually molested in Pink was not easy. "Every day I'd come on the set to face one more day of the most gruelling scenes. No sensitive person could remain unaffected by the situation I had to go through and the dialogues I had to speak. I have to admit Pink has been the most challenging role of my career."
On the plus side the very spontaneous and vivacious Pannu had a ball shooting with Amitabh Bachchan. She's tapped the fun side of the Big B which most youngsters are too reverential to do.
Says a source from the sets: "Though Tapsee is as wonder-stuck by Mr. Bachchan's aura as any of his co-stars she does not bring the baggage of adulation on the sets. She is very chilled out with Mr. Bachchan, and he loves that."
Big B had once said that when he's working with actors of his son's generation, he wants to have fun with them, go out to the clubs and fun places after shooting. "But, they don't ask me," he rued.
Looks like Big B finally found a young co-star who won't mind partying with him.
Said Tapsee: "Mr, Bachchan is a rock star with a terrific sense of humour. We have a blast on the sets. Not that I ever had any pre-conceived notions of him being anything but a chilled-out rock star."
She knew from beforehand that this would be a good experience. "I was always told by everyone who has worked with him that he is quite cool. So I remain myself in front of him. I don't have to pretend to be prim and proper. He is easy-going. I wish I could tell you about our on-screen bonding. But I am not allowed to as it would give away the plot."
About her role in Pink, Tapsee enthuses, "I play a Delhi girl, independent, opinionated and liberated. It is a character very close to who I am in real life." She said achieving that level of dishonesty required to play characters doesn't come easy to her. "I am just comfortable being myself. So I don't know how I ended up being an actor." - bollywoodhungam.com