Taapsee Pannu: “I  Know What It Is Like For Women In Delhi”

For Taapsee Pannu the journey in Bollywood  so far has been a portrait of courage and unconventionality.

“From the time I came into Hindi cinema with Chashme  Buddoor I’ve chosen projects not for their commercial viability but for what I feel was right for me.There are so many fish in the ocean. I had to be a different kind of fish,”says Taapsee whose forthcoming Hindi project Pink is one of the most talked-about film in recent times.

“I get a  lot of that reaction,” Taapsee laughs pleasurably. “When I was offered Pink by(producer) Shoojit SircarI knew this was going to be a powerful statement on contemporary women and sexual aggression. The film is set in Delhi and I am a Delhi girl.  I know what it is like for women to be heckled, harassed and attacked, and I don’t mean attacked just physically. Verbal evesteasing is as insulting and damaging to  a woman as physical assault. Why do we segregate and discriminate one sort of  violation from another?”

For Taapsee playing a Delhi girl who is sexually molested in Pink was not easy. “Every day I’d come on the set to face one more day of the most gruelling scenes . No sensitive person could remain unaffected by the situation I had to go through and the dialogues I had to speak.I have to admit Pink has been the most challenging role of my career.”