Taapsee: I was not keen on doing Kanchana 2

'I was not sure if I wanted to do such an intense role.'

'At this stage of my career I was not sure I could play this character.'

Taapsee Pannu talks about how director Lawrence Raghava convinced her to be a part of Kanchana 2.

Taapsee Panu has had a good run at the box office. Having made her debut in 2010, this pretty actress worked in Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam films before she landed on her home turf, Hindi films.

Her last release Baby co-starring Akshay Kumar got her some rave reviews. 

Her next release is Kanchana 2, the horror comedy directed by choreographer-director-actor Lawrence Raghava, which releases on April 17.

In this exclusive conversation with Radhika Rajamani, Taapsee opens up about Kanchana 2.

Above: Taapsee Pannu. Photograph: Hitesh Harisinghani/Rediff.com

What made you take up Kanchana 2?

I was not keen on doing the film. I was not sure if I wanted to do such an intense role.

At this stage of my career I was not sure I could play this character.

Lawrence was persistent and asked to meet him and hear the story.

When I heard the story, I did not want to say no and I couldn’t say yes. There was too much to digest in the character.

I thought I would buy time, take a month to analyse. I was surprised Lawrence agreed to give me a month. He called after a month.

I told him I was scared about a few things in the character. He told me to believe in him and trust him.

So, the trust won you over?

I blindly trusted him. I told him I’ll do what you say.

So hundred per cent of the credit goes to him.

It’s a horror comedy. Lawrence introduced this genre with Kanchana and Kanchana 2 will surpass it.

This is the third part of the Kanchana/Muni trilogy. What’s this version about?

The humour, thrill and horror are ten times more than in Kanchana.

I am the only serious character in the film. Since I understand Tamil, it was difficult to control my laughter on the sets.

The film is high on humour.

Is this version a gory one?

It is not disgusting. We can’t have nasty, gory stuff as it has to connect with the family audience – even the kids.

The script is scary but the visuals are not gory.

Kanchana 2 has been in the making for a while...

The film has been in the making for two years. We initially shot for seven-eight months and then I had my Hindi commitment.

Lawrence fell ill twice and took time to recover. He had to be totally fit to shoot as there were action sequences also.

He was actor and director so there was double stress on him.

What was it like acting with Lawrence and being directed by him?

I am in awe of him. He is multi-talented.

He kept the monitor behind my back so that he could see.

He has the entire script in his head and executes it brilliantly.

He is able to do so many things at the same time.

Are you comfortable with Tamil now?

A lot. I am not as fluent as I am in Telugu, but I can manage.

Is Kanchana 2 a bi-lingual or is it dubbed in Telugu?

It’s shot in Tamil and partly shot and dubbed in Telugu.

I haven’t done this kind of genre before and I was scared of doing horror. I was never a fan of horror.

There were a hundred people on the sets and I had to get scared. How scared can you get if there are a hundred people around?

Most of the fear is created through special effects later. So, I got over the fear of doing horror movies!

What are you working on now?

I am working on the Hindi film Abracadabra. Talks are on regarding a Tamil film.

Is it difficult doing movies in Hindi and Tamil and Telugu?

It is not difficult. I have done interesting characters.

There is an audience who look forward to films in all three languages.