'I AM FORGETTING THAT I AM AN ACTOR'

'I feel more like an athlete.' 'So now, I'd like to experience the actor in me more.'

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From playing a hockey player in Soorma to a shooter in Saand Ki Aankh and then an athlete in Rashmi Rocket, Taapsee Pannu has been training very hard to make her roles look believable.

Taapsee plays cricket legend Mithali Raj in her new release Shabaash Mithu.

"I have not mastered cricket. But yes, I can hit the ball. I know the shots. If you tell me to hit a square cut, I can," Taapsee tells The first of a two-part interview:

Somehow we see you doing only sports films of late. Are you chasing sports or is it the other way around?

I think it is a mutual attraction.

I love sports.

Sports film offers tend to cross my way, but now, I'd like to take a break from them.

It gets too tiring.

For so many years, acting and sports have been going hand-in-hand as far as I am concerned.

I am forgetting that I am an actor.

I feel more like an athlete.

So now, I'd like to experience the actor in me more.

Most sports biographies follow the underdog struggle victory format. How has Shabaash Mithu made sure it stays out of that pattern?

Underdog stories are very relatable.

In fact, your biggest films are those where the underdog becomes the hero in the end regardless of whether they are sports biopics or not.

Where this film is different is that you won't find much of Mithali Raj's personal struggle in here.

You will not get to see something like her parents were not supportive or there was a financial crisis in her life.

This is more of an underdog story of the 'Women in Blue', not Mithali.

But the story is told from Mithali's lens.

She has had the longest career in cricket.

She has seen Indian women's cricket from its anonymity days.