She brought on the ceetees and taalis for that one kickass action scene in Akshay Kumar’s Baby. Now Taapsee Pannu takes on the big, bad world of men in Pink. Co-starring Amitabh Bachchan and produced by Shoojit Sircar, the September 16 film marks the Bolly debut of our very own Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury. Taapsee — who made her Bolly debut with David Dhawan’s remake of Chashme Buddoor in 2013 — plays a young woman in Delhi who finds herself victimised by the system after she takes on the man who molested her. t2 caught up with Taapsee for a Pink chat.
A Shoojit Sircar production with women as protagonists, frontlined by Amitabh Bachchan, set in Delhi… what about Pink made you sign on?
I didn’t really know that Amitji (Bachchan) was going to be a part of Pink till the time I said ‘yes’ to it. The first reason to do this film was definitely that it’s a Shoojit Sircar film. I got a call from his office saying ‘we want you to hear this script and decide whether you want to do it or not’. A Shoojit Sircar film comes with a lot of credibility and that was my primary reason to say ‘yes’… that’s half the job done. And then I heard the script — I didn’t really get to hear it totally… I heard the idea of the film and the graph of my character — and it was a definite yes for me. Then, of course, was the fact that I am from Delhi and I get to play a Delhi girl. And Mr Bachchan’s presence came as a bonus.
You reportedly broke down a couple of times on set…
Many, many times! All the crying, all the distress that you will get to see in the film is for real. There was no glycerine used…. The brief was to keep it as real as we could and that’s what we tried to do.
So has acting in this film made you see violence against women in a new light?
What exactly you are going to see is a case of sexual molestation. We are not really focusing on showing violence against women in a new light… we want to show what it is in real and how these cases are actually handled. This is a film that will show what women face on a daily basis in an extremely real manner. We are all aware of what women have to face on the roads, in places of work, and even at home on a daily basis… but to be in the middle of it all can be quite scary.
What was the most unsettling bit about playing Minal?
Every day I had to psyche myself to believe that I am a victim of sexual assault. It took a toll on my mind after sometime because if something like this hasn’t happened with you, it’s very difficult to get into the shoes of someone like that. And even if you manage the initial bit, it’s very tough to brainwash yourself each and every day into thinking that something like this could happen to a woman. It’s horrifying.
As Minal, did you draw on anything from your life or base it on any incident you may have heard of?
As women we all have faced eve teasing in some form or the other… the severity may have differed, but we all have faced it. Being subjected to catcalls or having lewd remarks passed at you is something that all women have to face, no matter how old they are or where they come from. And, of course, I have been brought up in Delhi and as a teenager, I have faced numerous instances where I have been touched inappropriately in public. These were the maximum instances I could draw any kind of feeling from. But sexual molestation is a totally different ball game altogether and I really had to dig deep to invoke those feelings that a victim of such a crime would probably face.
Why is Pink an important film to watch for the Indian woman of today?
I would say that it’s an important film for women to watch, but for men more so. All these years, we have taught and told women what to do and what not to do, but Pink stresses on the fact that there should be a list of dos and don’ts for men also. The situation in our country probably wouldn’t have been like this if men were given a set of rules and regulations to live by. Also, I want to make it clear that the film takes no sides. We are just going to show you the reality in a very unbiased way and we are not giving you any deductions or inferences. It’s up to you what you want to take back home from the film.
This film has none of those heavy and dramatic dialogues by way of which we will twist and turn reality. Some people might favour one side… some people will favour the other side. If you want to have a thrilling experience of reality — Pink is possibly the most realistic courtroom drama you would have watched in a Hindi film ever -— then you need to come and see Pink. Everyone who comes in to watch the film will actually be doing themselves a favour.
Working with Amitabh Bachchan is something that’s on every Indian actor’s bucket list. Was sharing screen space with him everything that you had hoped it would be?
I am someone who never planned to enter this industry… I never wanted to act… and so I never really had a bucket list. These are the kind of films I want to do… these are the people I want to work with… I never made a list like that. But I know that Pink will be a definite landmark in my career because people wait for years to share screen space with him and I get to do that in what is only my third film. It’s a big, big deal. I enjoyed my time on set with him and I made sure that I made full use of his presence on set because he’s such an amazing actor and there’s so much to learn from him.
Was it intimidating sharing screen space with him, especially when it seems from the trailer that his character is out to intimidate you?
Intimidated no, in awe of, yes! (Laughs) I give a lot of credit for what I bring on screen to my co-actors. If they are good, then my performance automatically goes up a notch or two. That’s where having someone like him in front of you helps because he’s so good at his job. I didn’t act… I just reacted to whatever Mr Bachchan was doing. So if you like me in the film it will be because he’s so good! (Smiles)
And what was it like being directed by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury?
Tonyda is someone who knows what he wants… his style of filmmaking is very, very subtle. One line that comes to my mind when I talk about Tonyda is ‘less is more’. He would always tell me: ‘I just need your face to emote… I need things to be extremely subtle, extremely real’. He always exactly knew what kind of emotion he wanted out of us in every scene and having a director like that is half the job done for an actor because then you precisely know what to deliver.
And when it comes to Tonyda, one has to mention his love for good food! (Laughs) We used to have some pretty elaborate buffets on set. We would be both emotionally drained and physically exhausted after the shoot, but I would really look forward to the lunches (smiles).
You go from one strong woman to another, in Neeraj Pandey’s Naam Shabana. How flattering is it that you are consistently considered for roles that has the girl kicking ass?
(Laughs) Oh god, you know I am the last person anyone would think of in an action role because I have never even slapped anyone in my whole life! In Pink, I really don’t have to do action, but in both Baby and now Naam Shabana, I go around kicking people’s asses! (Laughs) I get so stressed when I have to do action scenes like this because I am constantly worried that I will hit someone hard — I know I have so much strength that if I hit, I will hit hard (laughs).
But it’s to your credit that you make it look so real…
Ya, that’s what people tell me… that I look very convincing beating up men! (Laughs) But personally, I wouldn’t ever like to hit anyone... anyone!
You have an interesting mix of films coming up in Ghazi, Tadka and Makhna. What are the boxes that you need to tick to accept a role?
First, I see who the captain of the ship is… my decision to do or not do a film is majorly based on that. I am a director’s actor and my performance on screen is largely based on how I am directed. Then I look at my role and then the script in totality. I look at how interesting my role is and how much it contributes to the film… I look at how strong my character is in influencing the script and whether it makes any difference to the film if it’s taken out.
Pink is a must-watch for me because....
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