Taapsee Pannu says Rishi Kapoor was shocked to know she had done 11 South films before Hindi debut, called her 'veteran'

Taapsee Pannu has revealed she was asked to wipe off the fact that she had worked in South films at the time of making her Bollywood debut in 2013.

Taapsee Pannu already had a successful career in South with a dozen releases before she made her Bollywood debut with Chashme Baddoor in 2013. The actor worked with Rishi Kapoor in the comedy film. He was impressed when he learnt about her career in the South and called her a veteran.

Taapsee Pannu in a still from Chashme Baddoor. 

Taapsee made her film debut with 2010 Telugu film Jhummandi Naadam. She followed it with several more Tamil and Telugu films including Mr. Perfect with Prabhas.

Talking about starting afresh as an actor in Hindi film industry, Taapsee told Filmfare in an interview, “When I came to Bollywood nine years ago, when Chashme Badoor was released, I was told that you have to literally wipe off the fact that you are from the South because people will start looking at you like a South Indian actress. I was like, “Yaar maine itni mehnat kari hai vahape, why is it not looked at as an asset?” I’d done some credible work, and on top of that, I’d worked with some really good and credible names there.”

She further said, “I remember on the sets of Chashme Badoor, Rishi Kapoor sir asked me once, ‘So how many films have you done in the South?’ I said 10 and I am working on the 11th one. And by the time Chashme Badoor was released, I had 12 South films out. And he was like, ‘Arre tu to veteran hai!’ So he was shocked to know that I had done this much work.”

Taapsee was noticed in Bollywood with her small but powerful role in 2015 film Baby. The character got a separate film, Naam Shabana in 2017 with Taapsee reprising her role. She eventually made it big with Pink a year later and has delivered several memorable performances in films like Mulk, Manmarziyaan, Saand Ki Aankh, Thappad and Haseen Dillruba. She will now be seen as cricketer Mithali Raj in her biopic Shabaash Mithu, releasing on July 15.