Bollywood actress Taapsee Pannu, who is busy with the promotions of Assi, voiced concern over the future of women-led and unconventional films in Hindi cinema, saying such stories are struggling to survive due to lack of theatrical support from audiences.
Known for balancing mainstream entertainers with content-driven dramas like Pink, Mulk and Thappad, Taapsee believes the space for rooted, issue-based films is shrinking. Speaking to PTI, the actress said, “We are on the verge of becoming an extinct species, we mean films like 'Assi'. There is a certain template that our so-called commercial cinema abides by and we don't conventionally fall in that template of sorts.”
Her upcoming film Assi, directed by Anubhav Sinha, marks their third collaboration after Mulk (2018) and Thappad (2020). The film tackles the rising cases of sexual violence against women and features Taapsee as public prosecutor Raavi.
Dismissing the assumption that such films will automatically find a platform on OTT, Taapsee said streamers are now prioritising mass entertainers. “The reality is people think that these kinds of films will keep coming on OTT and we will keep watching it. But no, OTT's don't want these kinds of films either. They have clear mandates, that only the films that are working in theatres are the films that they want to pick," she said.
"They want to take that theatre audience to their platform. They are like, 'We already have this kind of audience, we want those massy pot boilers audiences of our country to subscribe to the platform', That's why I say we are on the verge of becoming extinct unless people realise that we need to watch it. Sometimes it's good to watch reality as well," Taapsee added.
Comparing cinema to food choices, she said commercial films may be like “Mughlai”, but the industry also needs its “dal chawal” - simple, grounded stories reflecting real life. She called the habit of waiting for OTT releases “suicidal” for meaningful cinema.
"We should subscribe to all kinds of cinema. Only the audience can help us by going to theatres and watching (all kinds of) films. I hope they realise this before we lose this. Then we won't have the right to crib that our cinema cannot compete with world cinema, we only make a particular kind of film.
"We have a lot of people saying we don't make good and rooted stories. But when did you support rooted stories? By sitting at home and watching it on OTT is not how you support good cinema. If you like the film, spread the word, let more people come into theatres."
Assi, which also features Manoj Pahwa, Kumud Mishra, Kani Kusruti, Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub, Supriya Pathak, Revathi and Naseeruddin Shah, is slated for a theatrical release on February 20.
