Taapsee Pannu: “I am thankful to the actresses who said no to Haseen Dillruba”

 Taapsee Pannu Speaks  To Subhash  K Jha On  Playing The Wanton Wife  In Haseen Dillruba

How and when did Haseen Dillruba  fall into your lap?

I said yes to Haseen Dillruba  almost immediately.  It  was  a a not-so-simple story and I loved it.I had worked in  writer Kania Dhillon’s screenplay Manmarziyan. Haseen  Dillruba  was  like Mamarziyan with infidelity and murder .I told Kanika I wanted to hear the story. Then I had  to go  for an outdoor shooting. She  told me she would narrate  the  subject to me after I returned.

( Also Read: Haseen Dillruba Review: Hormonal Heroine In An Off-Kilter Crime Drama )

What  happened after that?

By the time I came back I  came  to know the  offer had already gone to someone else . I moved  on  to other  projects. A  few  months  later Kanika called me to come to her office urgently. The last time she asked me  to come to her office  it  was to narrate  Manmarziyan. I  had  this big smile on my face when she narrated me  Haseen  Dillruba. When  you want something really badly the  universe  conspires  to get  it for  you.Haseen  Dillruba  went around and then came to me. I am thankful to the actresses who said no playing Rani Kashyap.

Weren’t you shocked by how far  your character Rani Kashyap goes in  pursuit  of personal  gratification?

I think it’s  a  very interesting dichotomy.  Because  Rani looks like  a typical  conventional heroine.She  loves to dress up in traditional chiffon sarees and salwar kameez every day in her sasural. I don’t think I’ve spent so  much time getting ready every day for any film.Rani  has worked in a salon. So she is very conscious  about her grooming.  In her looks she is  a typical heroine.

But  she is anything  but typical?

 Yes, her behaviour is definitely  not that  of  a typical heroine. I actually began to gravitate away from  the stereotypical representation  of  the  heroine  long back. I found myself a bigger playground to play around in as actress. The characters  I  choose to play are  far removed  from  the  person that I am.That I suppose is  the  fun of being an actor. You can  live many lives in one lifetime, right?

Right. But  your  character  in Haseen Dillruba is  next-level  unconventional?

The whole excitement  of putting  myself out of my  comfort zone is  what  gravitated me towards  Haseen Dillruba. I  never  thought  I’d play a seductress like Rani, a woman who  uses her sexuality  to her own advanatage. This  character  has  brought out  a side of my  personality I  never knew existed.

But didn’t Rani’s behaviour shock you?

 You asking me , Taapsee? Yes, I am not that  person  I play in Haseen Dillruba. You will rarely find me in the grey zone. Rani’s  behaviour  is a  big no for me. Infidelity is definitely not  in my  range  of  acceptable  behaviour. I would  never accept or condone  it  in my own life. Having said that, I must also say that  it’s not  as though I am not aware that these things happen in real life. If we are  honest  to ourselves we are aware  of  quite  a few such breached relationships where crime surfaces  later.  So yes, as Taapsee I was shocked. But as an actor I didn’t find it difficult to accept my  character Rani’s behaviour.I was also shocked  by Rani’s reaction to her own infidelity. It’s such  a shameful  thing, one would normally sweep it under the carpet.  But Rani is  such an honest person.When she  develops an extra-marital  relationship she is  determined to tell her husband about it.And she does.

How  many women would do that?

Exactly. Rani feels she must be true to her feelings. It’s not her  intention  to have a closeted extra-marital  relationship.She’s very  honest about her needs and desires with her husband.And when she’s disappointed in her marriage she has  an extra-marital  affair. This  is  not something she had planned. But when  it happens  she  doesn’t  shy away from the truth.She is  ready to leave her husband for her lover. All this made  the character quite shocking for  me.

Is  Rani in Haseen Dillruba the nastiest heroine  you have played?

I am not  to sure.  Because  I  had played a really  nasty woman in Badlaa. Just because she was  suave she didn’t come across as in-your-face wicked. But I think in Naina in Badlaa   is nastier. Rani is  more honest  and she’s probably the most flamboyant character I’ve  portrayed.

Do  you miss the  big screen  for Haseen Dillruba?

Of course I  do. You have seen the  film. You know the  visuals  are designed  for  the movie theatre. It has  in fact all the ingredients to travel to beyond the  so-called A centres. It’s very gripping. We  were  very confident  that  the  content will travel. We waited as  long as we could. If we waited any longer   the product may lose its validity. I’ve so many other  film nearing  completed. How long could  we wait?

Do you enjoy watching content on OTT platform?

It has a reach, no doubt  about it. I watch  a  lot of content on  OTT. I watch all the  films which are being premiered on  OTT.

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