Taapsee Pannu praises Shah Rukh Khan's 'superior personality'

Actor Taapsee Pannu says she doesn't mind taking a backseat and doing films where the pressure of the release is not on her.

Speaking at Sahitya Aaj Tak, the actor recalled opting for Rajkumar Hirani's 2023 directorial “Dunki”, which was headlined by superstar Shah Rukh Khan.

"Everyone says that people don't want to come to you with the films that have big heroes because they think you won't be doing that. But sometimes I do like to take a backseat where I know that I will do my job and it won't be a stupid role but the pressure is not on me to headline," Pannu said on Sunday night.

“When I did ‘Dunki'. trust me, I was so much at ease around the release time... There was Rajkumar Hirani, you have Shah Rukh Khan, so I took a backseat and said now all these big names will take the front seats and drive the car," she added.

Sharing her experience of working on the film and Khan, the actor said he is someone she admires a lot.

“Only few people are there who have an on-screen and off-screen presence of a star,” she said.

"You can learn many things from the people on-screen but for me the first thing was that he is well-read, he carries knowledge and the way he can talk deeply on any topic... That personality is far superior to anybody I have met in the film industry so I think that is my biggest takeaway after working with him," she added.

Pannu was most recently seen in Netflix's "Phir Aayi Haseen Dillruba".

The film, which released in August and also starred Vikrant Massey and Sunny Kaushal, is a sequel to her 2021 thriller “Haseen Dillruba”.

The actor, who plays the role of Rani Kashyap, said the movie was liked by the audience to such an extent that the makers had no other option but to come up with another part for it.

She revealed that the character was turned down by some actors, who didn't want to essay the role which has several flaws.

"I felt like in real life, we are between 'devi' and 'daayan' sometimes. We do make mistakes, god didn't make us perfect. So to accept that mistake makes Rani super human. She makes mistakes and she goes on to accept it and is ready for any kind of punishment. I think that was a very different twist to the female character which Kanika came up with and it got imprinted in people's minds."

Pannu said now Rani and ‘Haseen Dilruba' movies have become synonymous with her.

"My wardrobe has changed, I have got so many sarees since then. I don't feel like wearing anything else. So it has impacted me on the personal level as well," she added. PTI