Taapsee Pannu has never shied away from speaking her mind. However, that honesty has also led to speculation about whether it has cost her work in the film industry. Now, the actor has opened up about whether being outspoken ever affected her career. She also revealed why her casting opposite Shah Rukh Khan in Dunki may have “startled” many people.
In a recent conversation with Hindustan Times, Taapsee addressed the perception that she is “too vocal”. When asked if she had ever lost projects because she speaks her mind, she admitted that such things are rarely told directly to an actor.
She said, “I honestly didn’t get to know about it firsthand. I might have, but that, you know, it doesn’t come to you. It just gets like, someone is like, No, no, I don’t want to work with her because so and so reason. And then, you know, the thing never reached you itself, so you don’t get to know about it.”
Taapsee Pannu On Dunki Casting And Industry Perception
Taapsee also spoke about how decisions are often made in mainstream Hindi cinema. According to her, leading men usually have a strong say in casting. She said, “What I get to know about, is, only things like, sometimes the hero doesn’t want you to be in the film. That’s what I think everybody knows, heroes decide, in a film that has a hero heroine, most of the times, unless you have a director who is like the biggest star.”
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In her case, filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani stood firmly by his choice. She explained how she became part of Dunki. She added, “Because some directors are star directors, and when they say they want someone, they want to take someone. So like, for example, when Raju sir wanted me in the film (Dunki), I was in the film.”
The actor believes her casting may have surprised many viewers. She said, “It might just be a big shock for everybody because I’m not in the quintessential circuit of, you know, those kind of films or, or Shah Rukh sir’s regular pair onscreen. So it was a pretty shock, big shock for a lot of people, I feel. But that was because the director was so sure that he wanted me.”
Is Taapsee Pannu Difficult To Work With?
Apart from the casting discussion, Taapsee also responded to rumours that she can be “difficult” on set. She strongly disagreed with that label. Taapsee shared, “I sometimes hear that I’m a little too difficult to work with, and I fail to understand that because anyone who opens my filmography can see it that the directors who worked with me have repeated me, and that cannot happen with someone who is difficult to work with.”
She further added, “Nobody wants trouble again and again and again in their films. So yeah, and of course, the people who have not worked with me are the ones who say like that because they probably don’t know me, and I’m not a very social person. I can’t go out there to show up how I really am. So I think I let my work do the talking, which is slightly harder route, but I think I’m saner that way.”
On the work front, Taapsee was last seen in the courtroom drama Assi, directed by Anubhav Sinha. The film released in cinemas on February 20 and marked yet another strong performance in her career. However, it failed to make an impact at the box office.
