Taapsee Pannu: “In the beginning, I tried really hard to change myself, and to seem more glamorous and a little dumb”

Taapsee Pannu has uncovered that in her beginning days in the industry, she was told to work with big names, look and act a certain way to reach at the top. Taapsee featured in a few Telugu and few Tamil films before she advanced toward Bollywood.

The actress said she made a point not to repeat her errors once she began featuring in Hindi movies.

Taapsee Pannu told Cosmopolitan India in an interview, “In the beginning, I was told that the only way to become a star was to work in big-ticket films. Alongside big heroes, and that’s what took you to the top. And that pretty much meant you had to look ultra-glam, be the diva… look a certain way, and be a certain way. And as I told you, I clearly didn’t fit in. So in the beginning, I tried really hard to change myself, and to seem more glamorous and a little dumb… because, apparently, looking good equals not having a brain.”

She added, “So I took up certain roles, because that was the norm. And I realised, very quickly, that those films were just not working for me. And that when I did something out-of the box, unconventional, not-so ‘heroine-like, it did work for me. So I realised that being relatable worked better for me, than seeming aspirational. I learnt this lesson while working on films in the South, so when I switched to Bollywood, I knew that I would not repeat my mistakes.”