“I Do Not Mind Doing A Film With Kangana Ranaut Because Besides Being My Senior, She Is Also A Good Actress”- Taapsee Pannu

Jyothi Venkatesh

What is your role in the recently released film Mission Mangal?

I play the role of a navigation communications head who is married to an army jawaan played by Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub. Like the husband, the wife also works for her country but her relationship to her work has different dynamics and connotations. She is a young positive scientist.

How challenging is your role in Mission Mangal, which has got a positive response at the box office and a great opening?

I should confess that I have been a small part of a big change. Because many others have managed to make a change before me, I have also been able to witness this big change in cinema today. There was a time when I used to feel that an actress has a shelf life of at the most five to seven years but today I would proudly say that I will keep on working till I die.

Do you want to do only intense and emotional roles all the time?

Why should I do only serious emotional and intense roles all my life? I also want to relax and work in films like Judwaa 2 too once in a while. I do not want to play the hero all the time and once in a while I want to be part of films which can be termed as time pass too.

You seem to give priority to content always. Isn’t it?

Today every kind of content has its own audience and because of that every actor has got security. In case, you are not happy with what a film is offering to you as an actress, you can get the web as yet another platform to showcase your talent.

Are you ready to be a part of web series?

No web series offer has till date come to me which has attracted me enough to say yes. If I get an offer which I feel will not be made in mainstream cinema, I’d be ready to do a web series. I am always greedy to grab a film because I do not want it to go to some other actress

How would you describe your role in Mission Mangal?

All that I can say is that you will remember me when you walk out of the theatres after watch Mission Mangal. I would not say that it was a challenging face off film, the way I used to feel Vicky Kaushal would swallow me when I did some scenes in Manmarziaan.

What made you take up a film in which there are several actresses along with you and the director is making his debut?

I salute Jagan Shakti to have taken up the challenge of writing and directing the script of a film like Mission Mangal, because if any other person had tried to make it, it would have ended up as a documentary. Though he is making his debut as a director with the film, he was never even once intimidated by stars as he had earlier assisted filmmakers like A.R Murugadoss and R Balki

Do you get intimidated by stars?

I get intimidated by good actors, not stars. I was intimidated when I worked with an actor like Rishi Kapoor in Mulk. My biggest strength is that I have taken up characters which are relatable and hence I feel that the audiences can easily connect with me and I have been able to get the niche of my own. My biggest trump card is that I am an outsider and it is because I am an outsider that the public relates easily to me.

Kangana Ranaut and her sister have been trolling you. To what extent are you affected by that?

Only those who matter can matter to me. Kangana Ranaut is my senior and she is a good actor but she just cannot affected by what she says because I know myself and what I am. If I come across her in public, I have no qualms to walk up to her and say hi. It is important for me to get acceptance from my directors because they give me work, not actors. I also know to talk but will refrain from using the kind of vocabulary that Kangana uses because I use a dignified language since I cannot use that kind of language

Kangana’s sister Rangoli has called you a sasti copy of her sister! If you are offered a film with her, would you agree to be part of it?

I do not mind even if she calls me a ‘sasti’ copy and would work with Kangana if I get a role which is good, because she is a good actress. I do not get angry because I have become older and mature.

How did you find Vidya Balan on the sets as a co-actor when you worked in Mission Mangal?

I have really admired Vidya. When I saw Dirty Picture, I realized that a girl can also carry a film on her shoulders as a hero does. Ditto when I saw Kahaani

How was it interacting with Akshay Kumar on the sets?

Earlier when I was shooting for Baby, I used to be very quiet because frankly I was scared that I’d be thrown out of the film especially as it was my second film after Chasme Baddoor with which I had made my debut in 2013. Now, Akshay Sir’s complaint is that I keep on talking all the time.

To what extent, do you think competition is a must in this field?

I think competition is there in every profession but my biggest worry is how to compete with myself and try to outdo myself from what I had done in an earlier film. I have absolutely no complaint at all about competition or its negative impact, because I feel that it is necessary to have competition as only then you would not become complacent about your work as such.

Pink proved to be a turning point in your career. Were you approached by producer Boney Kapoor to be a part of its Tamil remake Nerkonda Paarvai for the role which Shraddha Srinath has done in it?

I am actually happy that I was not approached by Boney Sir for the role because to do a complex and intense role like the one I did in Pink would have been taxing and what’s more stressful to reprise the same role. If I start doing three stressful roles every year, I’d only end up mad and snap at any and every one. I need to do a Judwaa 2 once in a while, as I said earlier.

What made you accept a two heroine film like Saand ki Aankh?

I wanted to do a biopic. A lot of biopics were offered to me but I chose to do only Saand Ki Aankh, because I did not like the other biopics. I wanted to do the role of Sapna in Saand Ki Aankh because I actually wanted to do a very taxing character in a two heroine film, though Manmarziaan came finding me. I am not a trained actor and I have to psyche myself on the sets. I feel that if the script is good, the film too will be good.

Which are your forthcoming films?

Besides Saand Ki Aankh, I have a Tamil film, a film in Hindi with Anubhav Sinha on a woman’s perspective which will be released on the Women’s Day for a reason, and a super natural film with Anurag Kashyap.

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