INSTEAD OF ABUSING CELEBRITIES ON TWITTER, GO AND WATCH FILMS OF OUTSIDERS, SAYS TAAPSEE PANNU AT INDIA TODAY E-CONCLAVE INSPIRATION

Jyothi Venkatesh

With powerful performances in films like Thappad, Pink, Manmarziyaan etc, Taapsee Pannu has made a strong base in the Hindi film industry. The actress, who came as an outsider in Bollywood, now enjoys a huge fan following.At India Today e-Conclave Inspiration, Taapsee opened up on the ongoing insider vs outsider debate and why people should stop abusing celebrities on social media. She said, "I wrote something which I don’t know how many people will understand. I wrote, 'Be the change you want to see.' By going out there abusing anyone- insider/outsider - that's how it's not gonna change. These are the people who are just spewing hatred; they are the ones who probably end up going and buying Friday-Saturday-Sunday tickets for these so-called star kids, making sure they get humungous openings vs people like me, who end up settling for good word-of-mouth and then end up getting those numbers."

Talking about box office numbers and the way we can together change the functioning of the film industry, Taapsee said, "Just because I am nobody’s daughter, I will not get the openings anyone else would. And who are those who are buying tickets? The ones who are now abusing on Twitter? Right, so they are the same people. So, if you really want to see the changes then do something about it. Going to social media and writing hate messages or tweets to people is not going to make the difference. Somewhere we all are responsible for this equilibrium going haywire. So, let's just do our bit to make sure we are going to make it right. Next time, an outsider’s film releases, go and watch it like the way you watch a star kid's film and then you’re probably entitled to stand there and say that this one is wrong, that one is wrong."

Taapsee also spoke on her journey in the industry. She said, "I knew it's going to be longer and harder but you know what, that's the beauty of it. It's gonna be mine and nobody can take away the credit of it from me saying you are successful because of this person or that person. Yes, it's going to be harder, it's going to be longer but the returns that you get are much sweeter because they are only yours, so I think I can make peace with that."

Taapsse also commented on how star kids are being made into a bigger brand than Taapsee Pannu. She added that she has not been featured on some of the few of the biggest magazines till date as it is easier to feature a Star kid in a cover story.It's all hands and glove kind of system that whoever has the power has used the power position to their benefit. It is but it's not one or two people who are there and are involved in it as a huge mechanism which involves the power play of the people in question, of the media and of the public who is going and buying it also”.