Taapsee Pannu: An actor whose choices are unique, is a breath of fresh air, and whose performances eschew artificiality

It seems pretty ominous in hindsight that the turning point in Taapsee Pannu’s career was was a film called Naam Shabana. It is not every day that an actress gets to be named after the finest living dramatic actress of the country.

The significance of the title did not escape Taapsee. She liked the idea of being named after the great Shabana Azmi. But it doesn’t mean Taapsee would bend backward to prove herself a grateful fan. Hero-worship is not a part of  Taapsee’s DNA. This could be because she is the hero of her own screenplay, and that’s the role assigned to her in cinema as well.

She has played the hero in so many films that it has become a habit with her. Taapsee has a natural-born leadership  quality to her personality. In school, I am sure she was the automatic choice for the monitor.

Peering into the monitor on the sets of films, Taapsee sees a woman, an actor who made it on her own terms, without flirting with directors and co-stars. All heroines do that. Once, when I saw a Superstar heroine plonk herself on Arjun Rampal’s lap, he brushed off my raised eyebrows, telling me it’s the normal chummy procedure on the sets.

You won’t find Taapsee agreeing with the definition of ‘normal chummy  procedure’. Taapsee likes to do her job to  the best of abilities. She doesn’t act over-friendly with any actor. Nor does she act over-awed when working with  someone as iconic as Amitabh Bachchan. They’ve done two films together. Taapsee was polite but not obsequious.

“She was so relaxed, chilled out. I liked that,” Mr. B had mentioned.

Perhaps, this quality of equanimous interaction makes Taapsee such a natural. She tells it like it is. But she doesn’t shoot off her mouth on subjects that don’t concern her, she has an opinion on matters of the State. But they are not always for public consumption. She knows where to draw the line.

When Taapsee started in Hindi cinema, the majority of the movie trade had no expectations from her. And that worked to her advantage. Being an underdog has its advantages. No one had eyes glued on her as she moved forward. When Taapsee started in the South Indian cinema, they considered her unlucky, called her ‘iron leg’.

Taapsee admitted it hurt her. “Men who talk like this about women don’t realize how crushing these derogatory  terms can be to women. They do it as they think are entitled to speak about women like that. When a male actor is considered, he is seen in his professional capacity as a hero, comedian, character actor, etc, whereas, women are  labeled by physical attributes….iron leg, golden leg, milky beauty  etc. It is the male mindset that entitles them to objectify women. There are couple of South actresses like Samantha and Nayanthara who have brought in a little bit of change in the South. I was too raw to make any change happen in the South. I was just trying to fit in. When I came to Hindi cinema, I was more equipped to make a change.”

Taapse considers Pink the turning point in her career in Hindi cinema. She never thought it would become such an important film. When she heard the script, she knew it was a significant step ahead for women’s empowerment in Hindi cinema. Being a Delhi girl, and since it was the story set in Delhi, Taapsee was sure she wanted to be part  of  Pink. “Because of the people involved, I knew Pink would be special. But I never knew it would be so revolutionary. At that time, I didn’t even know Mr. Bachchan was going to be part of Pink.”

After Pink, the Mumbai film industry’s attitude changed. Taapsee admitted to me that things felt different in terms  of the way producers and others from the film industry come to meet her. “I am one of  the few female actors who  can fearlessly lead a project. Like it or not, the scripts that are pitched to me are all led by the  girl’s characters. And they’re not those shoestring-budgeted small film any more. The films I am offered are not huge-budgeted but they are in the medium-budgeted category. Producers know I am identified with a certain kind of cinema. And there is only a certain kind of roles and cinema I do. I am glad there is  a bunch of  us  actresses  now who can lead a film without depending on a big male star to draw in the audience.”

And therein lies the problem. Like Ayushmann Khurrana, Taapsee is identified by audiences with a certain kind of intimate, authentic statement-centric cinema which can comfortably be enjoyed at home. They love Taapsee. But  they probably won’t want to make the effort to see her film in movie theatres any longer after the pandemic. This is a period of tremendous transition in the Indian entertainment industry, Maybe it’s time for Taapsee to do that other larger-than-life kind of cinema that draws the audience in. If not an RRR, then a Gangubai.

Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based film critic who has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out. He tweets at @SubhashK_Jha.

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