EXCLUSIVE: Taapsee Pannu on Haseen Dillruba: Trash my performance, it’s okay but review a film in totality

Taapsee Pannu, Vikrant Massey, Harshvardhan Rane starrer Haseen Dillruba received a mixed response from the audience. Even as the performances received immense adulation, many questioned the plot and wondered if it promoted domestic violence if scenes are seen in isolation. This definitely led to a huge public discourse and in an exclusive chat, we asked Harshvardhan the hypocrisy behind his character not being judged for having an affair with his brother’s wife but Rani (Taapsee) being judged immensely. We also asked Kanika if she would have liked to do anything differently following the debate and criticism the film received. Director Vinil Matthew takes us through the challenges he had to face while filming and if OTT is a boon for filmmakers like him. We also asked Taapsee if her personal judgements of the character ever interfere with her performance and to reflect back on her journey in the Hindi film industry particularly.

When asked Taapsee Pannu if it is challenging for her to keep personal judgments of a character from interfering with her performance. Answering candidly, Taapsee shared that she did face this challenge when she signed Manmarziyan but then post the understanding of how her character fits in the story arch, she has been able to cross those bridges. “I did face it majorly when I signed Manmarziyan. At that point itself, I faced it. That was the first time i faced it that I don’t approve of this on personal level so how will I play it convincingly onscreen. The bridge I had crossed back then, after that I crossed many such bridges including this one.”

Speaking about the inhibitions she had earlier about playing Rani in Haseen Dillruba, Taapsee explained, “This (Haseen Dillruba) was a fairly big bridge to cross, because at no point is she doing anything which is considered righteous. At no point. Everytime she gets a choice and her reasons to choose something have not been righteous. So, I think till the time there is a repent or a consequence to what the errors my character makes, the fact that she realizes where she goes wrong and tries to make up for it, and then eventually life throws a googly at her and the struggles she faces while she is in the police station, with no guarantee of walking out scot-free. So when I see the film in totality and that the character has a consequence of certain sort then my personal social politics doesn’t come into play.”

The Thappad actress added, “If there is no consequence, then I am not sure if I am giving in to the story, character I might still play but will I agree to the story I don’t know. I don’t just look at the character, I look at the story as a whole and how my character is fitting in it.”

 

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The film did receive flak for scenes where Rani (Taapsee’s character) has near death incidences manaurvered by her husband in an attempt to seek revenge. When asked if when taken out of context, can the same scene be interpreted differently and if that is what happened with Haseen Dillruba, Taapsee responded, “Films are medium where everyone is entitled to have their subjective opinions. Now that the situation has become so grey and we have had a lot of feminist movies, when I did Pink, I remember there were people who thought ‘aise karegi toh aise hoga hi na inke saath’. I am talking about regular janta. Everyone is entitled to have their own interpretation of the film and have opinions. That basically means that the work we did has reached and hit a nerve. It is fine to have debates and discussion over a film.”

She continued, “It is only wrong when you are reviewing a film as a reviewer, and then become first a female and review the film from a feminist lens. Then you are not reviewing the film, you are writing a personal blog of the film. when you are given the power of having a national reach as a reviewer, then please remove your personal political lens of feminism, and view it as a movie in totality.”

“If you want to trash my performance, trash it. I hve made a career out of it, pick up the review of my first few films, there were shameless, i could have given up acting. Even till my last film, it is not like Amrita in Thappad was unanimously loved. Everyone is open to hve a subjective opinion, I don’t take myself seriously and don’t mind being called name,” the impeccable actress stressed.

Also Read: Taapsee Pannu on receiving overwhelming love for Haseen Dillruba: It’s a very new feeling for me

Bhavna Agarwal

Assistant Editor at Bollywood Bubble. An ambivert who is currently high on K-dramas and K-Pop. A forever Bollywood fan, who continues to gush over solid stories and characters. Hit me up for a fine conversation over chai.

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