Taapsee on dealing with sexism in the South film industry.

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 / MOHINI CHAUDHURI /
INTERVIEWS
Pink may have catapulted Taapsee Pannu into nationwide
fame but the 29-year-old is clear that her journey will be
about more than just acting in movies
In a span of two weeks, Taapsee Pannu has gone from
being an under-the-radar newcomer in Hindi films to one
of its most buzzed about young actresses, thanks to the
spotlight on Pink.
Pannu has done 16 films in Tamil and Telugu, and so is
quite familiar with the nature of overnight success. If
anything, she has maintained a degree of detachment
from it. The 29-year-old, who is also a software
engineer and wedding planner, doesn't even see herself
in showbiz for a long time. Instead, as Pannu tells me in
the interview below, she would rather be driven by her
"happiness".
Edited excerpts of a conversation:
I recently saw a video of you at a press conference for
Pink. You got teary-eyed while speaking and then you
got up and touched Shoojit Sircar's feet. That's a grand
gesture.
I just felt like doing it at that moment. This was a
gesture to convey that I'm really thankful. I never
wanted to act and had no passion for this industry. I
landed here by chance and I did well so I hung on. I
don't refrain from saying that I don't know much about
acting and this is the man who contributed to me looking
the way I look in this film. A lot of people kept asking me
how I managed to get noticed in a film with Mr.
Bachchan - Shoojit sir was the reason. He has been
telling me from the very first schedule of the film, You
don't know what magic you're creating on screen'. This
line has stopped affecting me because in every film your
director says you're doing a fabulous job but things
don't always reflect on screen. But with the kind of
acclaim I'm getting for Pink, I felt like telling Shoojit sir
he was right.
Shoojit has said that he keeps feeding his actors with
thoughts through the making of a film so that he can
elicit the right emotions from them. What did he tell you
before that scene in the car?
He feeds you with so much food that it makes your
appetite full! He wasn't there for that car scene because
we had already shot a lot of the movie by then. But he
had already prepared me. He just tells you what all has
happened with this girl, what are people saying, and
where all she's been felt. Actors are gifted with powers
of imagination. When people tell us a story, in our head
the show has already started. I'm actually imagining
these things happening to myself and that makes me
feel emotional and vulnerable. It took a week-long break
to come out of this film. I do think this is my best
performance till date. I never thought I'd be the kind of
actress who can cry without glycerine.
Yet surprisingly, you also said at a speech at BITS
PILANI that you don't want to act forever. You said, "I'll
do it till I enjoy it. I want to start a new life soon." Why?
This journey did not start with the objective of me
becoming a number one actress and still is not about
that. I came here because I wanted to try something
new and I'm enjoying it. I'm driven by my happiness.
Becoming a world class actress has never been my
passion. I have so many things to do in this one life and
acting is just one of them. I can't invest my entire life in
this. I'm a 100 per cent clear about that.
Pannu with Dhanush in the Tamil film Aadukalam, which
won 6 National Awards
But hasn't the overwhelming response to Pink altered
that a little. Are you still eager to start a new life soon?
No this success hasn't changed anything. The Hindi film
industry is now waking up to me but people need to
understand that nothing changes in my life that much.
I've seen all of this. My first film in the South
(Aadukalam) won 6 national awards. What can be more
overwhelming than that? I've seen box office success
and failure before coming here. So it's not like I'm on
cloud nine now. This is just a bonus. I don't take my
success or failure that seriously. It will all go. I just take
myself seriously.
You are a software engineer who loves maths and
creates iPhone apps. You left it all to do South films.
When you started gaining a foothold in acting, you
started a wedding planning business. Do you get bored
of things quickly?
Yes. Really quickly! I've always been a very hyper-active
kid. I was the head girl of my school and the student of
the year. I had minimum attendance but whenever I was
in class I was a frontbencher. So they've always been
multiple things in my life and I need to do all of those
things to keep myself busy and happy. I don't like to be
in my comfort zone for long. It's like life has become
dead. I'm a very adventurous and unpredictable person.
Tomorrow I might just go and start some other
business. I actually do have something in mind but I'm
waiting to go and do my research on it. Now the
wedding season is coming and I'm gearing up for that. I
make my publicity team get in touch with these bridal
magazines, then I go to meet hotel managers with my
sister and my other business partner. We give
presentations to the general managers there.
I'm sure they aren't used to seeing a well-known
actress at these meetings.
Yeah sometimes people do get fascinated and entertain
us in a better way because I'm there. But it doesn't
mean I get it easy. I still have to go through the process
of constantly calling them and confirming that
everything is going fine. There are huge monies involved
in this business. It's not that easy. This helps me
disconnect and be a normal person. I want a life beyond
the movies.
Does having this other life make you a better actor?
Yes, of course. Because otherwise everything is going to
look the same and you'll have nothing from real life
observations to pick up from. I like to live a normal life.
I don't like to have bodyguards around me even down
South and everyone knows how crazy people are for
stars there, no matter how big or small you are. Even in
Delhi I travel by Metros. Last night my flight landed in
Mumbai at 2 am and I took a normal Meru cab and
came home. I don't have a driver. There will be some
attention that you attract but you also get to see life in
as normal a way as possible.
Actors are gifted with powers of imagination. When
people tell us a story, in our head the show has already
started,' says Taapsee
You've done 16 Tamil and Telugu films in 10 years. In
2011 alone you had 7 releases. That's a lot of work. And
you're a Sadarni from Delhi with no understanding of
the language.
At that time I didn't understand how to act or even
handle this overnight stardom. I was shooting for
Aadukalam and Jhummandi Naadam simultaneously. I
was one of those rare actresses debuting in Tamil and
Telugu cinema at the same time and both films became
such big hits. The buzz was so strong about my debut
that I signed three films before the first released. I didn't
know how to handle all that attention. I was just taking
up films based on what others were telling me to do.
Because I don't like to sit idle, I took everything that
came my way without using my brain. I was overworked
and I didn't know which direction I was going in.
I like to live a normal life. I don't like to have
bodyguards around me even down South... Even in Delhi
I travel by Metros,' says Taapsee
You've also been vocal about the sexism in the South
film industry. You recently spoke about a producer
asking you to take a pay cut because the hero's last
film had tanked. You refused because the actor's
paycheque wasn't reduced.
I've faced a lot of these situations. I get really angry.
But what can you really do? There have been situations
where actors have told me to dub lines differently
because they don't like it. Can you imagine they have
asked me to change my lines in my close-up shot? So
I'm saying one thing and they're asking me to dub
another line. When I refused, they made someone else
dub for that one line. My cheques have bounced and
signed contracts have been annulled because the
producer's last film didn't work. But he didn't change
anything in the actor's remuneration.
At that time you get really angry and want to shout out
and tell the world about how unfair this is. I don't take
names but I do say it out loud so that people who follow
me know that this actually happens and that shouldn't
stop you from growing. Your eventual revenge is
success. That's what's going to make them feel sorry.
In Hindi there is a saying - "Chadte suraj ko sab salaam
karte hain." That is true of every industry.
Pannu says she thinks a lot before choosing her roles
as she did for the 2015 film Baby
Lastly, Pink is your breakthrough moment of sorts in
Hindi cinema. And you've set the benchmark pretty high
for yourself. How will this impact the choices you make
going forward?
Baby itself impacted my choices. When you come into
the industry with Chashme Baddoor nobody expects
anything out of you. When you deliver even a decent
show people accept you and say now show us what you
can do. That's why I did Baby. I wanted them to take
notice of what I'm doing. I was extremely careful of
what I was choosing because even that 20 minute-role
was received so well, that it did build pressure in my
head. I took up Pink too after a lot of thinking. I've tried
to be versatile in my choices - be it changing genres,
my look, or the directors I'm working with. I don't want
people to get bored of me.