Taapsee Pannu: I was seen as a Southwali heroine; language barriers were broken at the beginning of my career

Taapsee Pannu, who is recognized for working endlessly, has opted to limit herself to only three projects this year. Despite this, she has a number of engagements with the audience planned in the months ahead, both on OTT platforms and in theatres. 

In an interview with Bombay Times, the actress discussed about being part of a huge shift in the entertainment industry. Taapsee Pannu expressed her thoughts on how South Indian actresses have fared significantly better in Hindi cinema than their male counterparts.

She said that ehen the male protagonist has transcended the barrier, the country is still awakening to the conception of a pan-India artiste. Our society is patriarchal, and our cinema is predominantly male-dominated. Although she asserted that we have come a long way, the other style of cinema is still a minority. In terms of her career, she has spent nine years in Bollywood and twelve as an actor.

She further quoted,

 "When my first Bollywood film Chashme Buddoor released, I was seen as a Southwali heroine. That was my first reference for people. A lot of PR professionals would tell me those days to wash this image off, saying that if I don’t do that, the audience here won’t embrace me. I wouldn’t understand their logic. They would tell me that Sridevi’s acceptance across industries was a rarity. But I didn’t ever stop working down South."

Taapsee also remarked that the projects became less frequent, but she never completely abandoned them. In reality, her Hindi cinema repertory began to influence the types of films she began to make in the South. She focused on selecting films that inspired her, even if they didn't pay her much. She desired to be linguistically agnostic. Language barriers were broken for her straight at the start of her career.

Currently the actress is ramping up for her upcoming project Dunki wherein she will star with Shah Rukh Khan and is helmed by Rajkumar Hirani.