‘I came here to have fun’: Taapsee
Taapsee Pannu is swamped by nostalgia whenever she lands in the city of pearls. This is what she calls her homeground that helped her shed all the nervousness in facing the camera. In town to promote her forthcoming release Pink, and launch a jewellery expo, she’s happy to see familiar places and faces all over again. Inspite of catching a 5 am flight from Bengaluru on this promotional tour that she’s been on for over a month now, her face shows no signs of stress.
Promotional spree
“It’s almost like shooting an entire film (the time we take to promote). We need to have these extensive promotions because we’re catering to a lot of audience. Especially, with a film like Pink (a court drama surrounding an incident of a woman being molested), it’s about the social relevance in the theme and not about the box-office collections alone. It’s a film that everyone needs to see,” she asserts.
This is in stark contrast to her early days in Telugu cinema, where she was more than happy to promote her film only three days in advance in a few cities. For now though, she wishes her marketing team gave her enough time to make her Pink co-stars see more of Hyderabad. Is buying jewellery among her top priorities whenever she visits the city? “It’s more during the Eid times where I go to the Old City where they make the paltas and other jewellery items well there. Of course, I’m a girl, I always like jewellery,” she admits.
Career-wise Taapsee, now Mumbai bound, is a relaxed and an assured person, not particular in signing films in a flurry and happy in making leisured yet assured choices. “One reason behind this is that I’ve been happy all my life. That’s why I’m doing the work that I do now. I never came into the industry because I loved the medium or wanted to act. I came here only to have fun. I’ve had many experiences, both good and bad, and from the mistakes I’ve made, I try my best to not repeat them. Having a sound sleep after work is what matters to me at the end of the day.” she’s candid. While she reveals she was pampered much in Telugu, she’s like any other actor in Mumbai sans the star baggage.
Pink, as a film, given the dark theme, had her emotionally exhausted by the end of it. “You become more vulnerable, sensitive towards everything. Being in the space of a sexually abused girl for over two months for the film was tough. I needed time to break out of it and come to reality.” During the shoot, she and her co-stars, who idolise Amitabh, recollect just staring at him to see how he approaches the craft.
The crowd-puller
Apart from the thespian, she realises that her presence is also a factor that can draw audience to the film in the Telugu states. This is a burden she’s experiencing for the first time. “I’m slowly moving towards a zone where people may watch a film for me. Earlier it was the co-stars who shouldered that responsibility. I hope I can proudly say to my producer that I’ve got people to watch my work from the Telugu speaking states.”
While she also has the multi-lingual Ghazi that’s up for release early next year, the response for Pink, she says, will give her a fair idea of what people may expect from her, as she does Baby 2 next ( with story by Neeraj Pandey where she plays the lead role). “I can say I’ve taken the safest choice (Baby 2) to be a solo protagonist. I have a strong supporting cast in the form of Malayalam actor Pridhviraj and Manoj Bajpayee.”
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