“I was tagged Iron Lady in Telugu cinema” – Taapsee Pannu : Bollywood News

As Taapsee Pannu prepares to play a sprinter in her next film, she looks back without rancour on her days of rejection. “In the Telugu film industry I was called the ‘Iron Leg’ which means a bad-luck charm. They have these tags for the female actors: Golden Leg, Iron Leg….None of male actors are ever labelled in this way.” She hasn’t forgotten the hurt. “I wish I had saved all those articles calling me those names. But they were too hurtful to save back then. I never I’d turn the tables one day.”

“I was tagged Iron Lady in Telugu cinema” – Taapsee Pannu

As Tapsee Pannu’s career is skyrocketing. After another success in Mission Mangal she is awaiting the release of Sandh Ki Aankh where she plays a real-life shooter from rural UP. And now she will play a Gujarati racetrack sprinter in Akarsh Khurana’s Rashmi Rocket. Tapsee, already very athletic in her demeanour (she played a hockey player in Soorma) will have to train from scratch for this part.

She informs me, “I will have to do a full physical makeover for this role. I start shooting from next month onwards.”

So is the role based on a real-life sprinter? “It’s not a proper bio-pic. But a story based on real incidents. My character is a bit like P T Usha, Hima Das and Dutee Chand. But really not any of the above.”

Also Read: FIRST LOOK: Taapsee Pannu to play an athlete in RSVP’s Rashmi Rocket