Courtroom drama, ‘Pink’ is all set to release on the 16 this month. It stars Amitabh Bachchan, Andrea Tariang, Kirti Kulkarni and Taapsee Pannu. Pannu plays one of 3 women who face assault charges after being molested by a group of men.
In an interview with Huffington Post India, Taapsee Pannu spoke about how growing up in Delhi helped her relate to her role in the movie. Delhi, obviously, has been put into the wrong light after becoming home to major cases of sexual assault.
“No going out alone after sunset; don’t travel alone; always share details of people travelling with you; absolutely no night stays at any friend’s place ever; no entering dingy lanes; no going clubbing because anybody could spike your drink,” she listed out. “I can count on my fingertips, the number of times I went to a nightclub during my school and college life.”
Taapsee mentions that she had to ‘coax and emotionally blackmail’ her parents to allow her to go clubbing. “And then after a certain point, I’d get calls every 10 minutes.”
She also recalled an incident where she felt a hand on her back on Guru Nanak Jayanti and how she twisted his hand and moved ahead.
“I immediately caught it, twisted it hard, and moved ahead quickly without looking back,” she said. “I didn’t have the courage to look that person in the eye because I didn’t know what he might have done if I’d seen him. That’s the kind of fear I lived with for a long time.”
For the role, Taapsee was asked to draw anger from any such incidents that had taken place in the past. It would help her deliver a performance that was internal and paralysed by fear, yet confident.
“The truth is that you always think, ‘This is how I would react in such a situation’ and then it happens and sometimes you react in a completely different manner,” she told Huffington Post. “I was told to control my reactions and display confidence through my eyes rather than my body language and tone.”
Taapsee hopes that this film helps people realise that being strict with women’s freedom will not protect them from sexual abuse.
“Our society always focuses on telling daughters what they can’t do rather than telling sons what they shouldn’t be doing,” she said. “We’ve always been taught to avoid a situation, rather than to report it or confront it. Obviously, I don’t agree with it. Unfortunately, there are countless things like this that need to change in our society.”
You can read the full interview here.