Taapsee Pannu didn’t believe she was starring in ‘Dunki’
Taapsee Pannu is currently savouring the success of her latest film, ‘Dunki’, which saw her star alongside Shah Rukh Khan. In a recent interview, the actor spoke about how she wants to break the perception that she doesn’t do hero-centric films and only stars in projects that have her as the main character. Taapsee also revealed that she couldn’t believe she was starring in ‘Dunki’ even after she signed the film.
Speaking about their perception of her in the Hindi film industry, Taapsee told ‘Bollywood Hungama’, “There is this big misconception that I am tired of the clearing. It is often said that I don’t do films if my character isn’t at the centre of the story. From Javed Akhtar, everybody had told me, ‘You don’t do films in which you aren’t the main lead. You won’t do a film if it revolves around a hero’. I was like, ‘Who is spreading this?’”
“I think this can also be the reason that many big films don’t even come to me because it is assumed that I won’t do them. It is also because sometimes anyone can do those characters. There isn’t a specific requirement from the actor. For those kinds of films, there are so many options that filmmakers don’t even reach me and I am also not part of that group where my name would instantly be taken. Everybody has their comfort zone and people will approach those who are in the zone.”
Talking about how she was in disbelief even after signing ‘Dunki’, Taapsee said, “Everybody isn’t like Rajkumar Hirani sir. He doesn’t necessarily need that comfort zone. He texted me out of the blue after watching ‘Manmarziyaan’. After watching a lot of my films, purely on merit, he reached out to me for ‘Dunki’. It was too good to be true and which is why I didn’t believe it till the first schedule of the film was over. People would ask me at home, ‘You are in the film, right? They didn’t kick you out?’ One-and-a-half years before the film went on floors, people were telling me that Raju sir might be looking at some other actors and nothing came from Raju sir though as he was sure about me. So, it was difficult for me to settle down and accept that I am doing this film.”
