HT City Exclusive | Taapsee Pannu: My success is not a fluke, I worked really hard and pushed myself every single day
In an exclusive shoot with HT City Showstoppers, actor Taapsee Pannu waxes philosophical on work and her career, her equation with paps and her recent wedding.
Taapsee Pannu is in a “very happy, content and satisfied” space in life, both personally and professionally. With a string of meaningful films that strengthened her position in the film industry, and having turned producer, Pannu has had a great run so far. Her last release, Dunki (2023) where she played Shah Rukh Khan’s love interest only helped her up her game. However, the actor asserts that it’s not a very easy place to be in. Why? “The kind of films I’ve done so far have been so diverse that it’s very difficult and challenging to choose what to do next,” she quips.

Also Read: Taapsee Pannu on bagging a Rajkumar Hirani film with Shah Rukh Khan: It can never get bigger than this for me
Explaining her point, she tells us, “Today when the world is going around for an action, spy world, I did that in the beginning of my career with Baby (2015) and Naam Shabana (2017). When people think playing a really shrewd antagonist, I did that in Badla (2019). When you think of playing someone totally out of my skin, I did that in Saand Ki Aankh (2019). Talk of grey shades and I’ve done that from Haseen Dillruba (2021) to someone who makes wrong choices in life in Manmarziyaan (2018). I’ve also experimented with sports films when I did Rashmi Rocket (2021) and Shabaash Mithu (2022), where I’ve learnt a new skill altogether. I’ve done murder mysteries, time travel thrillers, horror and biopics, too. So, it’s very tricky as a lot of these conventional genres have been so easily ticked away.”
10 YEARS AND COUNTING
That being said, the 36-year-old is enjoying this moment, and says that this “weird space” she is in, comes out of a place of contentment. “I’m at a position where I feel I’ve done quite a bit, I worked really hard and did everything by my own merit, so my success is not a fluke. I consistently pushed myself, so it’s a very happy and satisfied place,” says Pannu, who isn’t on any signing spree and has only three projects - Woh Ladki Hai Kahaan, Phir Aayi Haseen Dillruba and Khel Khel Mein - eyeing a release this year.
At this point, the actor takes a moment to reflect on the last one decade spent in Bollywood and how she has been “jumping from one film to another”. Therefore, without any qualms, she admits that this is a much deserved position to be. “I need to sit back, enjoy the time, relax and rejuvenate, and then come back with something that’s going to challenge me further.” However, she is quick to add it’s easier said that done. “That’s because I’ve been in that momentum of just pushing myself every single day. And when you suddenly put that stop to me, it is very difficult to come to terms with it,” she notes.
THE FASHIONISTA WITH HER OWN RULES
Interestingly, it’s not only work where Pannu has tread carefully before being so spoilt for choices that she’s now taking her time to decide what to take up next. Recalling her initial days in the film industry when she was “trying really hard to fit in”, the actor confesses she made some “horrible fashion blunders”, and there were lessons she learnt from those. And therefore today, she has realised what her real personality is, and what defines her when it comes to her sartorial choices.
“When I started off in Bollywood a decade ago, there were huge fashion mistakes, which I accept and own up. I’m not a fashion conscious person, so I relied on a lot of people who I thought are good at their job and will dress me up in a way that suits me. So, submitting myself blindly to them backfired in the beginning of my career where I went ahead dressing a certain way believing that this is a trend,” Pannu recalls, stressing that it took her a while to find her own ground and personality in the industry.
She goes on to share, “When you are new, you just find it very hard to fit in. You’re trying very hard to make sure that you are a mix of glam and bossy; that you are as Indian as it can get and you can look equally hot and nice in a bikini. Basically, you are becoming a buffet. I was also trying to do that. But, it took me years to realise that I’m not a buffet. I am a specialty restaurant, and I’m going to make sure that remain an acquired taste, which is not everybody’s cup of tea. It did take time to realise and accept that it’s okay to not be that aaloo that fits into every meal.”
So now that she has had her share of ups and down with the fashion police, Pannu describes her style statement as “chic mixed with edgy”. She elaborates, “It's classic with a mix of being proper. I don’t like the word boss vibe. Chic mixed with edgy is what I actually identify it. Chic in the sense it won’t be shabby or street kind of a vibe. It will be very semi-formal to formal vibe, and at the same time, a little edgy which gives a little bit of authority in the personality. That’s the vibe that I’ve identified most with.”
TURNING PRODUCER WITH OUTSIDER FILMS
As someone, who is known to not mince her words, Pannu exudes confidence and a personality that's uniquely her own. A while back, she turned producer and launched Outsider Films. Remember her no filter views on nepotism in the film industry? Asked if anyone advised her otherwise while she chose this name for her production house and Pannu says she can't really recall anyone who told her not to get into it.
Also Read: Taapsee Pannu stops promoting her debut theatrical production Dhak Dhak, felt used and bulldozed by studio
“I don’t have those kind of people around me who are unaware of the fact that I have never gotten things without taking risks. I have thrived on the risks that I have taken. So, it’s only fair if I’m taking that risk provided I have weighed my pros and cons very clearly. Also, people around me are very careful about what they tell me or what advice they give me because I can ask for a why or why not, and I’d expect a logical answer to it," the actor reasons.
THE PAPARAZZI GAME
Talking of being blunt, Pannu has always shared a bittersweet equation with paps, or should we say complicated. Not sounding defensive even for once, the actor emphasises that all she expects is mutual respect.
“Paps feel I’m difficult, whereas I’m just being real. In an urge to get clickbait photos and captions for their Insta pages, they sometimes push and press the buttons of all celebrities, which I am not comfortable with. As a pap, if you talk to me, and I’ll have a conversation, but if you press my buttons saying, “Your last film didn’t work, how does it feel?’ or ‘Itni der se khade hain, photo to de do’, then I’m not going to indulge you. There needs to be mutual respect," she states.
Citing examples of several other actors and their dynamics with paps, Pannu reveals a new word she has learnt - Lajvanti. “It's for those people who try to be overtly submissive and sweet with whatever paps are saying, and just laugh it off, acting dumb, and that’s considered sweet, cute and adorable. Sorry but I can’t be Lajvanti,” she chukles, adding, “If you shove the camera in my face without my consent at places where I’m not in professional capacity, it's not fair to expect me to be suddenly entertaining you. I feel I am allowed to have a life beyond my work as an entertainer, too.”
THE WEDDING SOIREE
An interview with Pannu can't be incomplete without asking bits about her recent wedding with long time beau, badminton player Mathias Boe. While the actor kept it all extremely private and didn't share any pictures or details of the wedding on her social media, some videos got leaked online giving glimpses of her bridal entry.
Unlike celebrity brides we've seen in Bollywood of late, Pannu ditched the lehenga and opted for a traditional salwaar kameez and juttis for her D-day. She says, “I’ve grown up seeing Sikh, Gurudwara weddings, so for me, the vintage idea, the classic idea of getting married was always in a proper red salwar kameez paired with a dupatta with kinari on the border. That’s the only way I know a bride looks like a bride, and it didn’t feel real wedding vibe to me to imagine myself dressing up in pastel hued lehengas."
Moreover, Pannu didn't have big designers make her wedding outfits. “Also because when you have some big name on board, then the chances of the news getting leaked out are very high, and I wanted to keep it very private. So, my college friend, Mani Bhatia designed all my outfits, and that’s how I wanted. I didn’t have any lehenga in my entire wedding because I wanted to dance a lot on all functions."
Sharing deets about her outfits she wore for wedding festivities, Pannu tells us, “For haldi, I wore a very vintage Punjabi style of lungi teamed up with a kurta, similar to what you saw in DDLJ, along with floral accessory. For sangeet, I had worn bell-bottom styled pants with bling work on the top and jacket, and diamond solitaires as the only accessory. For the wedding, I wore traditional Punjabi saggi phull,which is a hair accessory, along with a very light necklace and earrings that my grandmother gave to my mother at her wedding. I had not other jing bhang for the Indian wedding. My chooda and kaleere also were very basic.”
However, for her Danish wedding, Pannu did go a little out of the way, as she wanted to keep it equally traditional and authentic as the Indian ceremony.
“I went to Copenhagen to this designer called Lasse Spangenberg, as that was the only name Mathias suggested me. I and my sister Shagun were in Denmark for five days, we did all the fittings etc, and I got my entire gown, veil, bird cage, everything and travelled back with it to India. There’s a tradition in Denmark to wear something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue on your wedding day. So the gown was ‘new’, I wore an ‘old’ pair of heels from my closet, I ‘borrowed’ pearl earrings from my stylist Devki, and on my veil, I had gotten some important dates of our relationship embroidered, which was in ‘blue’ in colour,” the actor shares.
