FEISTY AND FABULOUS TAAPSEE PANNU

The actor opens up to Cosmo India Editor Pratishtha Dobhal about how she finds ease in being herself and what sets her free.

- Pratishtha Dobhal

Two things hit home when I met Taapsee Pannu. Unlike the strong characters she plays on screen, she has a charming disposition (making it pretty obvious she is a solid actor). However, the other more intriguing quality that stands out is her earnestness. Even in our conversation, she doesn’t steer away from dishing it out as she sees fit, keeping it very real, very honest, very Taapsee.

For someone whose growing up years were ‘by the book’ template of being studious and rarely going out for fantastical cinematic escapades, Taapsee clearly revels in her journey of making it on her own. In an industry where fame and fortune often favours the ‘well connected’, she has a body of work that is rich with powerful stories, often opposite legendary actors. Inspiring, fascinating, fearless, and quite fabulous, Taapsee is truly living in her ‘Girl, you’ve got this’ era.

Pratishtha Dobhal: It is evident with all of the years, which you’ve had in the industry and the kind of method you bring to your acting that you love a good challenge. What is a recent opportunity you’ve seen as a challenge you’ve wanted to win over?

Taapsee Pannu: The one challenge that I felt was, or rather, has consistently been something that I succeed in or sometimes fail at is making sure I am not letting one part of my life overshadow the other. Sometimes (you know) your personal life demands more attention and your professional life takes a back seat; and at times it is the other way around. So the challenge has always been to make sure that I don’t give any one side of my life so much importance over the other that I do injustice to the other side...because I have a limited span of years to live. I don’t want to regret tomorrow that I didn’t give this [either professional or personal life] enough time and attention because then you start to overcompensate...and I don’t want to reach that stage.