Taapsee Pannu wants to do rom-com, has rejected several action films: ‘There’s certain creative bankruptcy’ | Exclusive

Taapsee says it’s not that she doesn’t want to do lighter films. She has been waiting for filmmakers to look beyond the kind of roles they offer her.

If there is one thing Taapsee Pannu has no shortage of in her filmography, it is intense roles. She has played women caught in difficult situations, fought battles on screen and headlined several thrillers and dramas including Pink, Haseen Dillruba, Assi, Thappad and more. But the actor is ready to step away from all that. As she gears up for Gandhari, Taapsee says she would love nothing more than to be given a fun, light-hearted rom-com.

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Taapsee wants to do something light in Bollywood

Taapsee says it’s not that she doesn’t want to do lighter films. She has been waiting for filmmakers to look beyond the kind of roles they have come to associate with her. “Please tell people, have mercy, give me something light. I would love to see you in a rom-com,” she tells Hindustan Times in an exclusive interview, laughing, before adding, “I would love to do it too.”

She feels that once an actor finds success in a particular genre, the industry often gets comfortable casting them in the same space. “There’s a certain kind of creative imagination that our industry is not that good with,” she says. “When we see a certain actor good with a certain kind of roles and genres and worlds, we just want to play safe and keep casting that actor in the same world.”

Taapsee says it is not her fault she does intense roles

Taapsee says she has made a conscious effort to move away from this image. She reveals that she has turned down several investigation dramas and action films because she didn't want to keep going back to the same kind of roles. “I can't begin to tell you the number of films I have turned down — investigation films that I have turned down, like a lot. Action films that I turned down after Naam Shabana and Baby until now,” she adds. “Because it just felt like there’s a creative bankruptcy where you can’t imagine a person — if you're calling someone a good actor, not me, if anybody, a good actor — then please put the faith in that person to be able to perform range.”

Taapsee feels an actor’s filmography often says more about the roles they are offered than what they are actually capable of doing. “It’s not my fault if I am only offered 10 intense films,” she says. “I will choose the best out of it and present that, but it will still be a strong woman, intense film because that's the only genre that people have started imagining me [in].”

She feels this is most obvious when it comes to romance. Taapsee points to Manmarziyaan as proof that she can carry a love story, but says filmmakers still seem hesitant to see her in that space. “If today someone goes out to pitch a love story with me, people can't imagine it. They don't want to greenlight it because they feel like, ‘Taapsee in a love story? It's very difficult to imagine.’ I don't understand,” she asserts.

She considers Manmarziyaan among the best romantic films she has been part of and believes its lasting impact is proof that audiences can connect with her in that space. “I also thought, like you, that Manmarziyaan is probably one of the best romantic films made because it's not a rom-com. It's not any other genre mix. It's a pure romantic drama. And I feel it’s got that cult status now eventually,” she says. “That means it has stayed in people's hearts and minds.”

For her, being perceived as a strong person should not automatically mean she cannot play someone vulnerable or romantic. “Just because I don't come across as a fragile human being in my films or in my real life, nobody can imagine me in a love story because you're supposed to be a certain very fragile, vulnerable-looking, feeling [person]. I don't know what,” she adds.

Instead, she finds herself repeatedly being pushed towards stories where the stakes are high and the emotions are intense. She further says, “It's Taapsee. So you have to be in a hard-hitting emotional drama or you have to be in an intense thriller. It has to be something where the emotional stakes are very high. She cannot be in a comedy.”

Taapsee Pannu on comedy

Taapsee feels Khel Khel Mein, the 2024 comedy led by Akshay Kumar, was a chance for her to step away from the intense roles she is usually associated with. She took up the film because she wanted to have fun and explore a lighter, more comic side of herself. “I literally did Khel Khel Mein for me to have fun,” she reveals. “I knew there were seven of us on the table. I just get to have some fun is why I did that film.”

The actor credits filmmaker Mudassar Aziz for looking beyond the image associated with her and trusting her with comedy. “Mudassar, being someone who knows me personally, knows what I can pull off. So thankfully he did have the creative mind to give me that. But people, after loving that character also so much, if they cannot imagine me pulling off comedy, it's their fault, not mine. I was never given an opportunity. I've tried to latch onto it, but I should be given that opportunity,” she adds.

About Gandhari

Directed by Devashish Makhija and written and produced by Kanika Dhillon, Gandhari centres on Bani, played by Taapsee Pannu, whose world turns upside down when her daughter is abducted. Her search leads her to Joypurra, a fictional town where fear runs deep and the mysterious Behrupiyas are closely woven into its culture. As Bani digs deeper, she finds herself caught in a dangerous web of secrets.

Ishwak Singh plays Gokul, a father searching for his missing daughter, while Jatin Sarna steps in as Kabir, the police officer handling the investigation. Swastika Mukherjee, Mita Vashisht and Chhaya Kadam round out the cast. The film premieres on Netflix on September 3.