Taapsee Pannu holds her own in the highly-competitive Bollywood circuit. Her acting career centres on unique roles, fun scripts and hardcore discipline. It is not difficult to believe that the Pink star is in showbiz for serious business and hence remains unfettered by the negativity and criticism that comes her way, especially when it comes to being an industry outsider. Talking exclusively to The Brown Identity, the starlet responded to the accusations hurled at her by her contemporary Kangana Ranaut, in the past and now. She also weighed in on why the Queen actor’s latest allegations are baseless and make no sense to her.
Q. Kangana Ranaut thinks you are a gung-ho about Karan Johar in the hope of getting roles from him?
Taapsee Pannu: No film of mine has been produced by any of these gangs she keeps targeting. I never mentioned anywhere that I like Karan Johar or anyone else she alleges but I have never said I hate them either.
Taapsee: So the fact that I don’t hate someone she hates, is equivalent to concluding that I like that person and I suck up to that person? I don’t even know him beyond a formal ‘hi, hello’ and ‘thank you’. How is this even logical?
Q. Kangana thinks Karan should sign you in his films. What do you have to say about it?
Taapsee: I have been doing at least four films a year for the last three years and I have five upcoming projects too. Who says I don’t get enough work? I decided to keep my career graph slow and steady and that’s exactly how it’s been going.
Q. She apparently feels you are sucking up to KJo in the hope of getting offers?
Taapsee: When none of my past or forthcoming films have been produced by any of that “so-called mafia” she keeps talking about, then how is my professional existence dependent on nepotism? Undermining someone’s genuine achievements by crediting wrong sources and then mocking them is how you prove that you are a truly successful outsider?
Q. Does her endless tirade anger you?
Taapsee: I refuse to be bitter. I refuse to take advantage of someone’s death for personal vendetta and I refuse to make a mockery out of the industry that gives me bread, butter and my identity. I have had my personal share of struggles and just because I don’t glorify them and deal with them with a positive outlook doesn’t make me any less of an ‘outsider’.
Q. Have you ever been treated unfairly by producers for being an outsider?
Taapsee: Yes. I’ve been dropped out of films and replaced with star-kids. But the fact that she and her sister try to discredit me and my hard work, call me names and level wrong allegations against me is actually an equal level of harassment, if not more.
Q. Interestingly, you have a sister who stays completely out of the industry?
Taapsee: Yes. All this mocking because I refuse to sing her (Kangana’s) tune and because I don’t see her as the flag bearer for outsiders. Sorry, outsiders are not all bitter people. We all have had good and bad experiences. A lot of us in the film industry refuse to let negativity drive us. It’s our positivity, hope and the ability to make lemonade out of the lemons thrown at us that has gotten us to where we are.
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Q. You don’t sound bitter or angry or retaliatory?
Taapsee: I am not going to give into the negativity and hatred because it limits my growth as a human being. Kangana has the right to have an opinion and so do I. Just because my opinion doesn’t match hers doesn’t make me an inferior.
