Bhopal: Her each word is as sharp as a ‘Thappad’, Women empowerment is dear to her, says Taapsee Pannu

Bhopal: Her each word is as sharp as a ‘Thappad’, Women empowerment is dear to her, says Taapsee Pannu

Directed by Anubhav Sinha, Thappad was specially screened in the state capital on Thursday.

SmitaUpdated: Friday, February 21, 2020, 07:30 AM IST
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Taapsee Pannu |

BHOPAL: Each word she utters sounds like a Thappad, slap. She’s courteous. Yet firm. Meet Taapsee Pannu. She’s playing the lead role in the film, Thappad, to be released on February 28. She was in Bhopal on Thursday to promote that.

Directed by Anubhav Sinha, Thappad was specially screened in the state capital on Thursday.

What she holds dear is women empowerment. And chance has it that most of her films are related to it.

She says films cannot change a society. Still they can make people think. She says it with a smile.

Excerpts:

Why all your films are on women empowerment?

All my films are not about women empowerment, though. Yet, they have a strong female character. I don’t act in them consciously. I can choose only from the movies offered to me.

Thappad also have the same theme?

You can say so. It’s a film that forces you to think. Not only men but also about women. Women are equally responsible for whatever is happening, after all. They’ve have the chalta hai and ho jaata hai attitude. Aren’t we normalising violence against women? Aren’t we sending out a wrong message to our next generation?

Do you regret that you have been typecast as a fighter for the cause of women?

Not at all. It’s a cause dear to me. In the future, if I were to dictate the theme of the film I would act in, this would be the theme…

How common is violence against women in our society?

It is very common. Two of every five women in this country have faced violence or abuse or sexual harassment. You can find them in your family, in your neighbourhood, among your friends. Everywhere.

Did you also face this kind of situation?

This is too personal a question. Yet I want to tell you I am a born rebel. In my family, I plainly refused to do anything just because my elders wanted me to. Give me reasons: I would do it.

Can such films as you are acting in bring about change?

Yes, it is. And that is because the women have begun to speak up. They’re not ready to take things lying down. Films cannot change society. Still they can only start a discourse. Have rapes ceased after ‘Pink?’

Thappad is anti-men?

Those who are saying this must be slapping their wives (laughs). This film is not only about a slap. It is about how the woman who is slapped by her husband relates the incident to other happenings in her marital life. It’s not the question of a slap. About the attitude and the mindset that leads a man to slap his wife.

The Bollywood seems to be bitterly divided on political and ideological grounds.

Are we film wallahs not humans? Can’t we take a stand, and express it?

What about the bitter exchanges?

That’s mainly because of social media. It amplifies everything that film personalities say or do. If you and I have a difference of opinion on any issue either we can agree to disagree or quarrel with each other. There are both kinds of people.

Your opinion on the CAA-NRC controversy?

I believe that one should hate the sin, not the sinner. And violence serves no purpose. When there was violence against the students in JNU, I joined the protest against it in Mumbai. To keep mum is not my cup of tea.

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