She came, saw and conquered many hearts with her full of life performances. The multi-talented actress tells Sangeeta Yadav that she enjoyed working with Shoojit Sircar as a producer. Taapsee also had a great time shooting with co-star Amit Sadh
She outshined as an actor with her debut Bollywood movie Chashme Badoor (2013) by David Dhawan. Her second attempt Baby, opposite Akshay Kumar, garnered a lot of positive reviews. South Indian siren Taapsee Pannu is all set for her third Bollywood movie Runningshaadi.com opposite Amit Sadh where she’ll be seen playing a bindaas and daring Punjabi kudi.
“I play Nimmi, who along with Ram (Amit Sadh), help other couples to elope and get married as their parents are against it because of religion and caste disparities. I find Nimmi 95 per cent similar to my real life and maybe that’s why this character is very close to my heart,” Pannu says, adding that she is currently busy shooting for two Tamil movies.
Only two movies old in Bollywood, Pannu feels that she has a lot to explore in the film industries. “I never thought that I’ll play a character which is so close to my life. During workshops, I realised a lot of things as an actor which I couldn’t realise all this while. I have come out from the shell of my acting style which I was doing from past five years and opened up myself. I realised that I have so much to offer especially when I have command over so many languages,” Pannu says.
Doing back to back Shoojit Sirkar’s movies — Runningshaadi.com and Abra Ka Daabra, Pannu feels fortunate to work with an ace producer who allows his directors and actors to take the call. “As a producer of the movies, Shoojit sir never told the director of his film to work in his terms and in a certain way. His involvement is not that deep that it gets into the space of the director. Once he is ok with the script and likes the director’s work who he has appointed, he leaves it up to them and the actor to execute their ideas. He does take part in the initial decision making about who should be involved in the project etc. When this project gets ready, he helps in post production. For a filmmaker himself, it is always very tempting to just add your own touch to it. But it’s very difficult to let the other person give their own flavor to the movie rather than keep pushing for what you like,” Pannu says.
Having been paired opposite Ali Zafar, Siddharth Narayan, Divyendu Sharma and Akshay Kumar, Pannu is all excited and hopes the chemistry with Amit Sadh comes out very well on the big screens. “Amit is a very selfless actor. It’s not that he concentrates only on his shot. He is such a supportive co-actor that even in my scenes he used to just stand there and give me the count on the dialogue. It helps me in performing better. He also spoils everyone by getting food of their choice. He takes care of the entire unit so well and he knows about the likes and dislikes of everyone,” Pannu says.
Taking a cue from Runningshaadi.com, Pannu has donned another hat of a wedding and event planner along with her sister and close friend. “I always wanted to start my own venture parallel to my acting profession. In the initial four years of my career, I was doing four movies in one year so I didn't get much time to do something else. But I managed to read a lot about wedding planning and got a broader perspective about the field. It was during the shooting for Runningshaadi.com that I realised that it's high time to take-up this venture seriously. My sister, one of my friends Farah and I came together to form The Wedding Factory. It took a few months to brainstorm, decide the logistics and formulate the plan. Everything fell in place and went on floor last month,” the 27-year-old actress tells you adding that she'll be looking after the marketing side of the venture.
Asked which Bollywood actor’s wedding she would like to plan, she says: “Everybody. I wish I can ask for that. It's not that since my name is involved, it's only going to be big fat wedding or Page 3 party and audio launch of South movies. My agenda is not to deal with the cream of the society. It’s more about giving an edge and getting more out of the minimal amount of money. I will take up only those ventures which I think whatever the client’s minimal budget is, I can do something good and worthwhile in it,” Pannu adds.