I can’t be in a single gear my entire career: Taapsee Pannu intv

After a long time, a film starring Taapsee Pannu has received more negative reviews than positive, but the actor is not frazzled by the response. “I think the trailer of Annabelle Sethupathi clearly stated what the film was about, and I knew what I was signing up for. That said, to those who tell me I should not be doing these films, I believe I can’t be in a single gear my entire career. This is the kind of film I might watch to relax. Watching it does not offend me, it only asks me to not think of logic. We never said it was real, it is fantasy. And, I don’t want to become monotonous. I do want to cater to the audience as a whole,” says Taapsee.

And like with Judwaa, she’s chosen to not read reviews of this film too. “And no, I was not tricked into signing the film,” she smiles. Part of the reason for the feedback has also been that people have come to associate a film starring Taapsee with a certain kind of aesthetic. This is both an advantage and a disadvantage. How do filmmakers see her now? As the Aadukalam girl or as the one who worked in Pink and other films that had something substantial to say? “I want an answer to this myself. If I were in their shoes, I’d be confused too, as to how to perceive this actor. I did a Game Over, which won great critical acclaim, and then an Annabelle. It is very confusing to be in the shoes of people who have to interpret what an actor is. But, I am happy they are confused, it will mean I won’t get slotted. They can come to me with anything,” says Taapsee.

Taapsee is one of the few outspoken actors in Hindi, who has not hesitated to take a pro-people stand. This even when people around her have toed a pro-government line. Has her outspokenness affected her work or restricted the circle she works in? “Personally, I’ve not experienced this, and if it happened behind my back, I don’t know about it. I have come across filmmakers who are centrists, some who even work with pro-government agencies, but no one has ever told me to not voice my opinion. Some tell me to not talk and let it be. But, I am not being an extremist. I have opinions about things that affect me. I don’t pull down people or take names, but some have told me to keep quiet. However, it has never come in the way of my doing a film.”

Taapsee is working at an interesting time in the film industry. And, with OTT, the choices have opened up like never before. How does she perceive this? “I’ve always marked the difference between being just an actor and trying to be a star. I occupy the space between hardlcore commercial and niche cinema. Each film ends up with an audience of its own. The times have changed. Some of my films were made for theatre but released in OTT. I should be the last one to complain because I have an audience in both places,” she says.

For Haseen Dilruba, Taapsee says she never felt that it was an OTT release because the buzz before and after release was quite like a theatrical release, and the film reached across borders, and people ‘got’ it. “That said, I have a clause in my contract that the first right of exploration has to be theatre. Unfortunately, the situation now is such that if I don’t agree to an OTT release, my films will compete with each other, because we have all been working and making movies during the pandemic.”

Has Taapsee’s idea of cinema changed during the pandemic? For, don’t filmmakers now also have to compete with the pause button on screens? “This is one question I’ve been struggling to find an answer for, for some months. I’ve been discussing it with my producers. If we are coming back, how soon or how late? My positive, cinema-loving attitude tells me we will bounce back soon. But, I don’t have any concrete logic to defend this thought. The audience is now used to watching a film at their convenience, at their place. It is now at their disposal. We have to factor in the fact that for the money they will spend in a theatre, they can get the entire year’s subscription at a few OTT platforms. They know that what is released in theatres today will appear on OTT in a fortnight. This is a challenge that does not have an answer, and it is scary,” says the actor.

The pandemic has also changed the way actors perceive the process of acting. At a time when the world was physically distancing itself, they went back to their world where it is essential for people to occupy the same physical space. “It was initially surreal. Interestingly, Annabelle was the first set I was on after lockdown was lifted. We stayed in a hotel with many people. On set, we had regulations as to how many people can be around, how far apart can you sit. You wondered which is the right moment to remove your mask before a shot, how much can you interact with your colleagues. After all, when you stay with them for the time you do, they all become like a family. It took me some days to slip into that routine. Now, when you’re shooting, you don’t realise the world has changed. When it is time for pack-up and the mask comes on, that’s when you realise that it’s not the same.”

Taapsee has been quite vocal on social media, and there was a time when she was giving back to trolls, with humour. How does she manage her online avatar? “I ignore most trolls, because most are bots or unleashed in a coordinated campaign. They have nothing substantial to offer, and get triggered when you are successful. It gets amusing to watch. They call me jobless, when I don’t have time to take up a film till 2023. But, I’m way too secure to react to that,” she says.

Taapsee was also in the news during Haseen Dilruba for calling out a senior critic who she said got personal. “I do lose my cool when something or someone I value or respect lets me down suddenly. I am only human, and the irony is many want us to be real. When we are, they have an issue. If I call out bad social practices, I am a hero, but if I call out something you did, I’m the villain. I don’t see how a personal dig instead of a review of a performance constitutes a review. Also, if I can stand up for farmers, for JNU and for everyone else, why can’t I stand up for myself?” asks Taapsee.

But, like with everything else, the actor says there was learning from this experience too, not necessarily good. “It has numbed me and made me immune to future criticism, which I would have taken positively. Now, I won’t take you seriously or lend a proper ear. And, it’s not a nice feeling at all,” says Taapsee, as candid as always.

Also read: Annabelle Sethupathi review: Why did Taapsee and Vijay Sethupathi sign this mess?