Taapsee Pannu says comment on actors rejecting Haseen Dillruba for Vikrant Massey was ‘interpreted into something else’

Actor Taapsee Pannu has clarified her recent comment on featuring in Haseen Dillruba opposite actor Vikrant Massey and other female actors rejecting the film. In a new interview, she said that her response on other female actors was ‘interpreted into something else’.

Haseen Dillruba, released earlier last year, featured Taapsee Pannu (Rani), Vikrant Massey (Rishabh) and Harshvardhan Rane (Neel). Directed by Vinil Mathew and produced by Aanand L Rai, the romantic mystery thriller aired in July 2021 on Netflix.

In an interview with Gulf News, Taapsee said, “My answer was interpreted into something else. What I said was that many female actors asked this question about who the male actor in Haseen Dillruba was. But I did not ask that question of who will be my male counterpart because I got cast first. The male role went to Vikrant.”

She added, “My character in Haseen Dillruba was the fulcrum of the film and other characters were cast on who they feel will complement the actor in that pivotal part… That’s how casting generally happens. The fulcrum part is cast first. But before me, several girls [actresses] wanted to know who was going to be the hero. Ideally, in our films, that’s the first question that’s often asked. And they want to know that because budgets are set based on who’s the hero of a film.”

Recently speaking with Rajeev Masand during Netflix’s Actors’ Roundtable 2021, Taapsee had said, “During the whole narration, I was smirkly looking at her (writer Kanika Dhillon), ‘You didn’t come to me with this before’. I was almost manifesting it somewhere that I really want to do this. I was not probably the first, second or third choice for this. It was only when everybody else had said no that it came to me. I was very happy about it, first because I wanted to do it when I heard it, I didn’t understand why would anyone say no to it.”

After that Raveena Tandon and Konkona Sensharma asked why would ‘anyone say no to that’. Taapsee responded, “I can tell you the reasons why probably others said no to it–too grey, not likeable woman character or who’s the hero? I was like ‘Dude, it’s Haseen Dillruba, I don’t care about who the hero is. Those were the kind of questions because of which others didn’t work out and thank god for that.” Konkana then said that Vikrant, who eventually got the role was ‘such a good actor

Also Read | Taapsee Pannu reveals other actors rejected Haseen Dillruba because of Vikrant Massey: ‘I was like, dude’

Taapsee has several projects in the pipeline including Shabaash Mithu. The biopic of Indian cricketer Mithali Raj is set to release worldwide theatrically on February 4. Actor Vijay Raaz will be also be seen in a key role in the film.

She also has Woh Ladki Hai Kahaan opposite Pratik Gandhi. Her other projects include Looop Lapeta, Anurag Kashyap’s Dobaaraa and thriller Blurr, her maiden production venture.