Actor Kangana Ranaut has been aggressively vocal about the malpractices in B-town post the sad demise of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. Recently, she dragged Taapsee Pannu and Swara Bhasker into the debate and called them ‘needy outsiders’ and ‘B-grade actresses.’
Now, in an interview with India Today, Taapsee spoke at length about the ongoing debates surrounding Bollywood and said, “It’s really sad that it happened after the demise of such a great talent. It is sad that it is being used as a personal vendetta by a bunch of people.”
Referring to Kangana’s allegations she said that she was introduced into the debate forcefully and was called names. “After a point, I felt the need to speak up and stand up for myself because you can’t discredit me while finding credit for yourself.”
She went on to say that she was perplexed when Kangana called her out because she only has nice things to say about her. “You can have your opinion, I can have mine. My opinion not matching yours doesn’t make me wrong.”
“The hypocrisy was exposed when you yourself are fighting for outsiders and simultaneously pulling down other outsiders. Which side are you on?”
“You are using this opportunity to settle some personal scores. You are fighting against harassment and bullying, but in the same breath how can you bully others. That’s kind of wrong.” Even though Taapsee agreed that outsiders face discrimination, she refuses to be bitter about it.
“Let’s together stand against harassment. We have been discriminated against by the people in the industry, by the media and by the audience too.”
“It takes us years and years to get that opening figure that a star kid gets in the beginning. We are all in this ecosystem together. We all are responsible for this.”
Talking about bringing a systematic change in B-town, she opined, “We need to introspect and see how to change things. We have to co-exist. It’s not that star kids will be driven out and only outsiders will stay, or vice versa.”
“Right now, if we are saying that insiders have the power and are misusing it against the outsiders. What are we doing, we are turning the table and now harassing them and bullying them.”
“How will we attain equality like this?” she quipped. The ‘Saand Ki Aankh’ actor said that after being replaced by star kids in a lot of films, she reached a point when she didn’t seek validation from them.
“That’s when I decided to make my own path. You don’t need any validation, they haven’t come to screenings or tweeted about them, but does that make my films bad? No.”
“I refused to make them the power centre. They could have accelerated my career, but I refuse to give them the power to harm my career,” she added.
Speaking of people seeking an enquiry into Sushant’s death she said that people need to be clear of their intention because the kind of picture that is being painted of the industry can be damaging for the upcoming talents. An optimist, Taapsee says that the film industry will see a positive change but it is not going to change by bullying and harassing others.
However, she does believe that the journey of an outsider in Bollywood is easier now as compared to a couple of decades ago.
“The big names in the Hindi film industry weren’t open to giving outsiders a fair chance. But now, with the OTT world flourishing, so many outsiders have made it big and so many opportunities have been created for them. I wouldn’t have been here at all if outsiders weren’t given the opportunity.”
When quizzed if being a part of the ‘gang’ has to do anything with having a successful career, she says, “I really don’t think so. I wasn’t even nominated when ‘Pink’ released. I felt bad at that time but I realized how awards are very subjective. Jury, TRPs, sponsors, all these factors come in play to win an award. When I finally won an award, nobody had a problem with that apart from my fellow outsider (Kangana Ranaut).”
Even though Taapsee and Kangana have been in a war with each other on social media, she says that she is open to working with other co-stars, even if it means Kangana herself. “I am positive about things becoming better.”
Lastly, she concluded by saying, “Everyone has gone through the struggle, let’s respect that. Let’s do our bit to bring a positive change. You won’t succeed by pulling down others.”
What do you think of Taapsee’s way of tackling the situation? Tell us.