Mumbai (Maharashtra):
Taapsee Pannu is no stranger to taking on challenging roles that push the boundaries of conventional cinema. With a career spanning critically acclaimed films such as Pink, Thappadand MulkTapsee has straddled genres to showcase his creativity as an actor.
In an exclusive interview with ANI, Taapsee shared her thoughts on the decline of female-centric films in Bollywood and why such films often struggle to reach the same box office as ‘male-driven’ films.
Taapsee believes that women-centric films face more judgment because they are still considered “new” in a male-dominated industry.
“What women do always gets more condemnation because it’s relatively new to see women do something. It’s not common. If it was as common as it is with men, which has been going on since time immemorial—like he has to be the breadwinner, he has to be a legitimate son, he has to prove that he is a legitimate husband, he has to prove that he is a legitimate father – then it would be normalized These things – what kind of woman is a proper wife, mother or daughter – these are newer issues that are looked at from a different perspective than before,” he quoth.
“It used to be looked at through a patriarchal lens that defined what was OK for a woman to be in a man’s opinion. Now the lens has changed and the woman’s perspective is becoming important – how she thinks she wants to live. This is new, and it’s being resisted because it’s not still normal. That’s why it’s facing all these extra judgments and it’s being labeled as a female-centric film. They’re getting paid like men because our films don’t earn as much as male-driven films or films that focus on male subjects,” he added.
According to Taapsee, audience preference still leans towards seeing a “nice, sweet, bubbly heroine” rather than a strong female character who stands up for herself.
“Most of the pedestrians are men and they want to see their performance as the hero on screen. Their idea of a good woman is a nice, sweet, bubbly heroine, not a woman who stands up and says how she wants things to be or how she wants her life to be, that’s very much up to the audience mission where they want to see these kinds of movies,” he said.
The actor also talked about the fact that female-led films haven’t really explored the humor and flair that is usually seen in male-centric films.
“There’s not a lot of humor and glamor being made in female-led movies right now. I think that’s one space that a lot of us are starting to tap into, where it’s like, ‘We can do comedy too, we can do comedy too. to do heroics,’ but we have to do it a little differently. We have to devise ways and means to create cracks in the system and deal with it,” he said.
Talking about how her role in ‘Thappad’ has affected her career and the pride she takes in her filmography, the actor said, “One thing I keep in mind while choosing films is that in a few years I will have children and I want to be proud being able to tell them, ‘This is my film.’I am very proud of films like Thappad, which have given me a very strong image and identity.”
Meanwhile, Taapsee is starring in the multi-starrer Khel Khel Mein, which released on August 15. The film stars Akshay Kumar, Ammy Virk, Aditya Seal and Pragya Jaiswal in lead roles with Chitrangda Singh making a cameo appearance. Directed by Mudassar Aziz, Khel Khel Mein is produced by Bhushan Kumar and some other notable producers.
Taapse started her acting career in the Tamil film ‘Aadukalam’. Directed by Vetrimaaran and starring Dhanush, the film was well received and won several national awards. After that, the actor starred in several Telugu films.
Her big break in Bollywood came in the 2015 film Baby, where she starred opposite Akshay Kumar. He gained further popularity with his roles in Pink, Thappadi and Manmarziyaan, which helped establish him as a leading actor in Hindi cinema.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff, except for the headline, and is published on a syndicated feed.)
