Taapsee Pannu is all geared up for the release of her hard-hitting social drama Assi, which is directed by Anubhav Sinha. She got talking about the film and its timely subject of rape and sexual harassment in an interview with us.
As one of the responsible artists or celebrities, what do you have to say about the alarming rampancy of sexual assaults?
I feel that we are all going wrong as a society somewhere because these kids, underage kids committing this crime means that there is something wrong we are doing as a society. It is high time we stop the blame game only on the jury or the justice system or the cops. I think if the kids of 10 are doing this crime then we need to look at our houses, our immediate surroundings, our kids and do something about changing the style of upbringing that we have.
Your new film Assi looks like a frighteningly powerful expose on rape. Were you happy to return to the topical arena?
I am always happy to stay in topical arena, it just so happens I do not want it to be the only arena that I am part of in the sense like sometimes you can address certain topics by not directly talking about them and instead just weaving it into some kind of a story and then you know making the audience look at that topic and decide which side of the issue they are on. It does not necessarily have to be in courtroom all the time, but yeah it is always exciting to put the audience in judges’ seat and give a very head on discussion on one on two sides of the same coin. So yeah, these kind of topics I feel bring out a certain excitement in me because they are very topical, very hours happening around us, very relevant. So yeah, so these certain kind of topics blur the lines between reality and cinema, so that is why it becomes more exciting.
What is the secret magic between you and Anubhav Sinha? You two give out Mahesh Bhatt-Shabana Azmi vibes
Well, I think honestly I am very…. it is almost unreal if you compare me to someone like Shabana ji. It is too good to believe almost. I do not know how Anubhav sir feels about the comparison, but I just hope that yeah this kind of combination I have not really had specific long term combination of hits with any co-actor except probably Amit ji. We are still waiting on a hat trick. But here, Anubhav sir and I as director and actor are attempting one. So, I really hope this succeeds, so we can actually have some kind of a combination to be excited for in the future as well.
The subject of rape and justice almost seems to extend the narrative of Pink. Would you agree?
I think yeah, it does take the discussion like ahead, way ahead I feel because Pink was about consent, it was basically about a yes or a no. This one, on the other hand, talks about, actually this one talks to a society about what are we doing about this issue that is plaguing us and where have we gone wrong. So, it is about such a crime that is happening around us either with people we know or by the people we know directly or indirectly and happening maybe in the vicinity around. So somewhere it almost feels like we are all a part of it in some way or the other and probably we are not doing enough to stop it because now it is not just about a certain kind of people doing the crime or certain age group of people doing this crime. It has come down to now kids of 10, 11, 13 years old doing this crime. So, if they are doing this crime then there is something wrong with the way we are bringing up this next generation that needs to be looked into I feel. That is where I feel it is like way ahead of where the discussion of Pink stopped. This discussion probably starts from there.
What is it like being married, or is ‘happily married’ a contradiction in terms?
I really feel sad about those who believe happily married is kind of like an oxymoron of sorts. So, I feel very, actually I don't even feel that burden. So, to say of this term marriage because I really don't feel much of a difference in the relationship or how we've both dealt with it or how we both are living before and after.
Maybe except from the fact that my husband (badminton player Mathias Boe) spends more time in India than what he used to before because also now that he's taken sort of retirement from even coaching. So, I really don't feel that baggage of any sorts of this word called married. So, sometimes it's a little strange for me to answer this question because I have not really felt any difference at all in any way. We were living in kind of together even before we got married in Denmark and in India, how much of time we used to spend with each other, we used to live in each other's houses in the respective countries, with our parents in respective countries. So, nothing honestly has really changed for me to feel any different.
Also Read: Taapsee Pannu warns unconventional films like Assi are turning into an ‘Extinct Species’
More Pages: Assi Box Office Collection , Assi Movie Review
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