‘Aap achi dikho na, opinion kyun share kar rahi ho’: Tamannaah Bhatia on being reduced to a ‘pretty face’ on movie sets

Tamannaah Bhatia talks about her new show, Do You Wanna Partner, and how women have to navigate casual sexism at the workplace.

Tamannaah Bhatia is no novice in the industry. She has been around for 20 years, having worked in films across languages, and now, web series as well. Her latest show, Do You Wanna Partner, sees her play a woman launching a beer startup, venturing into the 'man's world'. In a freewheeling chat with Hindustan Times, Tamannaah discusses the show and more.

Tamannaah Bhatia stars in the new Prime Video show Do You Wanna Partner.

Women are seen, but not heard

The show deals with women entering a space traditionally dominated by men - the alcoholic beverage industry. Talking about how the show mirrors real life, Tamannaah says, "People like it when women are seen, but they don't want to hear them. They like it when the woman is just there, but not really cerebrally adding anything to the table."

A scene in Do You Wanna Partner sees a vendor ask Tamannaah and Diana Penty (who plays her business partner) if the elders in their family know they are into this business. Tamannaah says she has faced that judgment, too, while acting or doing a dance number. "There is that judgement of 'ache ghar ki ladkiyan'," she says, adding, "First of all, women have to see them as human beings. I have considered myself a human being first. I have not let the gender have any effect on me. While I always heard these things, I never really let them affect me. But, I did have to navigate the 'aap achi dikho na, aap apna opinion kyun share kar rahi hain (you just look good, why do you need to share your opinions)'."

Experience of doing Do You Wanna Partner

Tamannaah adds that this was not the case on the sets of Do You Wanna Partner, however. "I have to give credit to both my directors, Archit (Kumar) and Colin (D'Cunha), and even Somen," she says, praising the makers and producer Somen Mishra. "They were constantly helping us make the scenes better. They made us own all the scenes. When we said something, there was a lot of conviction in it because we were often a part of the process of arriving at it. While scenes were being read, we could say, 'As women, we feel this is what she would say. ' That credit needs to be given to the directors for being receptive to it. Not every woman reacts the same way, and they accommodated that," adds Tamannaah.

Do You Wanna Partner is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.