'If you shout at me, I will not take it.'
'If you jump on me and pounce on me or physically come too close to me, that's not acceptable.'
Taapsee Pannu has never shied away from expressing her views.
She gets candid as she discusses important chapters in her life.
"The majority of footfalls (in theatres) are male, and they want to see their representation as a hero on screen. Their idea of a good female is that of a nice, sweet, bubbly heroine, not a female who stands up and says how she wants things to be or how she wants her life to be. So it's largely driven by the audience's mandate, the kind of films they prefer to see," she says.
'Shah Rukh has got so much of aura and charisma'
Taapsee reveals how awestruck she was with Shah Rukh Khan's charm on-screen as well as off it.
"He is not just an icon in front of the camera with certain roles, dialogues, which will be remembered for generations but also the person that he is beyond camera, that wit, smartness, spontaneity, wow!
"You can keep looking at him like a fly on the wall because that man has got so much of aura and charisma. It's not that you have to be six feet tall or have to look a certain way to have that aura. The moment that person starts talking.... He is so well read.
"If I believed in something and he believed in something else, he'll be so good at convincing me to change my logic. He's so good at his reasoning."
She gives us an example.
"So, for example, there was something I was saying the other day that, how I don't really believe in buying out people to talk good about me or write good stuff. I remember talking about this to him and he was like, there are billboards, right? And you pay for the billboards, for your ads, for your display where you want to show it to the audience.
"So people who want to be paid for saying good for you, they should be treated like billboards. They should be used as marketing tools.
"So I kept thinking, I was like, yeah, they are billboards. So he actually changed my point of view so quickly with his logic and reasoning, which only an extremely smart man can do."
Taapsee, who worked with SRK in Rajkumar Hirani's Dunki, shared how she never dreamt of this moment.
"My luckiest moment was when Rajkumar Hirani called me for Dunki. I didn't even have a dream that I'll ever work with Shah Rukh Khan in a Rajkumar Hirani film; these are not the kind of dreams people like me have."
'I really enjoyed looking into Mr Bachchan's eyes'
Taapsee worked with Amitabh Bachchan in Badla and P.I.N.Kand opened up about working with him as well.
"I have not been an ardent movie viewer while growing up. I started watching films mostly in my college days because my parents are not ardent movie lovers of sorts," she says.
"I was mostly into dancing. So, I probably knew all the songs and lyrics by heart while growing up but didn't watch many films. So when I started watching films, Mr Bachchan was in his second phase, where he started doing different kinds of roles from what he was doing earlier as this Angry Young Man.
"When I started watching films, the heroes were Hrithik Roshan, Shah Rukh... these were the larger-than-life people for me to get little dumbstruck with. Mr Bachchan was someone who was an elder and very well-versed with this industry. The kind you should just sit and listen to. So I had no intimidation at all."
She shared how the Big B's energy used to charged her up while performing.
"I really enjoyed looking into his eyes and performing because that man has some terrific energy when he's in front of the camera. When you look into his eyes and perform, I used to get charged up. It is amazing," she says.
Taapsee has also worked with Abhishek Bachchan in Manmarziyaan.
"It somehow has trickled down in the generation and come to Abhishek as well. I feel similar energy when I look into their eyes and perform. There's something very beautiful that they radiate," she says.
'I've never seen Akshay Kumar get angry'
From working in Naam Shabana, Baby, Mission Mangal to the latest release Khel Khel Mein, Taapsee shares her experience of working with Akshay Kumar.
"The first thing I learnt from him, when I started doing Naam Shabana, is the ease with which you need to approach action," she says.
"I saw his action sequences even when I was not there. He had an extended cameo of sorts in that film and I had the title role. So there were certain fight sequences that I just went on set to see with what ease this man does and how invested he is in the whole preparation. He is the one who assigned trainers for my action training.
"Another thing that I learned from that man was how to be calm during adverse times. I've never seen him get angry. Never! He never raises his voice. Never gets riled up. Never gets worked up. Very calm. And I have not seen that man bad-mouthing anybody.
"I enjoy working with good actors and sharing the screen with them. I love Vidya Balan. I've been telling her every time I meet her, I just love her."
'I'm a public figure, not public property'
How does Taapsee handle rampant trolling and the invasive paparazzi?
"I think I have chosen a life which unfortunately, I got to know very late that kuch karo na karo, troll to tum hoge hi," Taapsee confesses.
"So I think this trolling has come into all of our lives lately and I feel ki kuch relevant hu mai tabhi to troll ho rahi hu.
"People are spending time in writing negativity about you. So I'm like, okay, I'm worth their time in some way," she says.
Taapsee believes that despite the harshness of today's trolls, they lack the power to destroy careers as it did in the earlier times when critics could significantly influence an actor's trajectory.
"They cannot, otherwise, main to yahan pe pakka nahi hoti," she says.
About dealing with the paparazzi, Taapsee states, "I have a very clear logic of the fact that I'm a public figure, not public property. There's a very, very, big difference between the two.
"If you shout at me, I will not take it. If you jump on me and pounce on me or physically come too close to me, that's not acceptable."
'One really good thing that I've learned from the nepotism people is...'
As the debate over nepotism continues to rage in the film industry, Taapsee offers her take on it.
"One really good thing that I've learned from the nepotism people is on how they stick together and support each other," Taapsee says.
"I feel we are so used to hustling, struggling, and racing ahead of each other that we are respectful towards each other. Obviously, we respect each other. We message each other when we see each other's work but whether it's a good film or a bad film, stand by this person. That vibe is more in those industry kids than us outsiders.
"We will keep feeling somewhere deep down, insecure with each other only. And it's more than what the industry kids have. Maybe, because, as I said, the mindset of competition has been formed," she says.
"The unity of sorts that I have seen that they will recommend each other, or stand by each other or be there for each other is in my personal experience. I think that's one thing we can take away from them in a good way."
'Women-driven films are not made with humour and flair'
Taapsee believes that films centred on women face more judgment because they are still considered 'new' in a male-dominated industry.
"What women are doing will be subjected to more judgment because it's relatively new to see women doing something. Had it been as common as things with men, which have been going on since time immemorial -- like he has to be the breadwinner, he has to be the rightful son, he has to prove himself to be the rightful husband, he has to prove himself to be the rightful father -- then it would be normalised. But when a woman talks about these things -- what kind of woman is the right kind of wife, mother, or daughter -- these are newer topics being viewed from a different lens than before," she feels.
"Previously, it was viewed through a patriarchal lens, determining what is okay for a woman to be, according to a man. Now, the lens has changed, and the woman's perspective is becoming important, how she wants to live. It's being resisted because it's not normal yet.
"Hence, it faces all these extra judgments, and is labelled as women-centric cinema. Naturally, there are fewer footfalls in theatres, which is why we have smaller paychecks than men."
According to Taapsee, the audience preference still leans towards seeing the 'nice, sweet, bubbly heroine' rather than a strong female character who stands up for herself.
"The majority of footfalls are male, and they want to see their representation as a hero on screen. Their idea of a good female is that of a nice, sweet, bubbly heroine, not a female who stands up and says how she wants things to be or how she wants her life to be. So it's largely driven by the audience's mandate, the kind of films they prefer to see," she says.
The actor also spoke about how women-driven films haven't explored humour and flair yet, which are seen in male-centric movies.
"Women-driven films are not made with a lot of humour and flair as of now. I think that's one space a lot of us will slowly start tapping into, where it will be like, 'We can also do comedy, we can also do heroism,' but we'll have to do it in a slightly different way. We need to devise ways to create those cracks in the system," she says.
Speaking about how her role in Thappadvhas influenced her career and the pride she takes in her filmography, the actor says, "One of the things I keep in mind when I choose my films is that a few years down the line, I'm going to have kids, and I want to be very proud to tell them, 'This is my filmography.' I'm extremely proud of films like Thappad that have given me a strong image and identity."
