A happy, content family shatters when the woman of the household steps out of the door and faces horrible consequences at the hands of social deviants. What follows is a hard-hitting courtroom drama headlined by Taapsee Pannu, as the sharp and intellectual lawyer Raavi who pushes boundaries to fight for justice for the wronged, essayed by Kani Kusruti. This is the powerful narrative of Taapsee Pannu’s latest film Assi, which connotes the fact that about 80 rapes are reported daily on average in India. Disappearance of eyewitnesses, tampering of evidence, blaming of the victim — all of this ensue as these two women fight for justice in Assi. However, what steals the show are powerful performances and dialogues, which highlight issues that need to be discussed now more than ever.
Taapsee was recently in town for the special premiere of Assi and as she walked into the room her aura was all spring glam and to-the-point. Dressed in a beautiful summer floral top paired with a brown-toned skirt, heels, and a matching bandana, she wore a confident smile as she discussed her new film, Kolkata’s warmth, collaborating with Bengali filmmakers, and more.
Excerpts:
Tell us about your character Raavi. You also play a lawyer for the second time in an Anubhav Sinha film.
People think I argue a lot, so they’re like, “Just give her the lawyer’s part” (laughs). This is the second time I’m playing a lawyer and the third time I’m working in an Anubhav Sinha film. The only similarity between the two characters is that they’re both lawyers. The difference is that here I am not fighting my family’s case like I was in Mulk, where it was personal from day one. This one is more like a public prosecutor who is assigned a certain case. She has many other cases to attend to in a single day, so she approaches it more clinically and professionally at first. As you slowly begin to get deeper into the case, the human being in you starts to feel concerned about the state of affairs. And then the woman in you eventually feels that we all need to take it personally. Those are the stages of this character.
What makes the Anubhav Sinha-Taapsee Pannu pair work?
I have no idea. He could probably have made the same films work with any other actor he felt was right for the part. I genuinely feel that all of us actors are replaceable commodities. Nobody is like, “Oh! this role, nobody else could have done it.” I honestly don’t feel that way. Some people are easily replaceable and some have fewer options to choose from. So I wouldn’t say I was the best choice or that it’s because our combination is special.
Maybe the synergy on set helps us bring out the best product. We have similar ideologies and a similar way of looking at life and situations. I actually learn a lot from him, he’s very well-read and has a lot of factual knowledge about many things. In that sense, I think I just got lucky that I was there at the right time in his life, when he shifted from the kind of films he was making earlier to Mulk and the films that followed.
Assi draws a lot from real-life events. Are you sometimes scared of the way the world is heading?
Yeah, every day. This is one of the issues we’re scared of, and there are so many others. But the solution isn’t to just sit back at home, lock your door, wait for the world to change, and only then step out. There’s probably a different way of dealing with it. You have a limited lifespan, right? Either you decide to be scared and stay inside, or you do something about it.
I keep quoting this line from the film at every screening because it really resonates with all of us. It’s from a poem by Uday Prakash: “Aadmi marne ke baad kuch nahi sochta, aadmi marne ke baad kuch nahi bolta, kuch nahi bolne aur kuch nahi sochne se aadmi mar jaata hai” (A dead man doesn’t think. A dead man doesn’t speak. But not speaking and not thinking makes a man dead). You have to do something, at your own level, for the situation to change.
How do you pick a script?
I read it first, and then I look at the maker’s previous work to understand whether the aesthetics I’m imagining in my head match what’s written on paper. I do a limited number of films in a year. I’ve worked with a lot of first-time filmmakers as well, but even then, they had a track record of being a writer or an ad-film maker before, so I know their aesthetics from somewhere to take that risk. Then, of course, I consider what I’m playing, have I done something like this before, does it resonate with me in some way, do I agree with the ideologies being portrayed, and am I in sync with the film’s takeaways.
Do you think meaningful content gets lost among the various options of consuming content?
The clutter is a lot. As an audience, we shouldn’t just keep calling out mediocrity and then expect good content to come our way. If you constantly keep saying this is nonsense or that is nonsense, it’s not going to help eliminate it. What will help is when you actually appreciate what’s good. Have you spoken to people about it? Did you make sure people are aware of it and give it a chance? Most of the time, the problem is that we don’t appreciate good cinema enough or do our bit to spread the word. The issue lies in our selective outrage when it comes to films.
You have collaborated with a lot of Bengali directors. Can we see you in a Bengali film?
It’s challenging for me to learn a new language. I don’t personally feel I have a flair for picking one up easily. I struggled quite a bit when I did Tamil and Telugu films — I had to learn it the hard way. But since I started there, I didn’t really have an option. If I didn’t want to quit, I had to learn the language, and so I did.
It’s extremely hard, and I feel I can’t do justice to a film or a role if I don’t have control over the language. I don’t want to put in a half-hearted effort, especially in Bengali, because I feel some kind of cosmic connection with the people here. I’ve received such a warm response to my films in Kolkata and had some really lovely nteractions with people, even though I haven’t done anything in Bengali yet.
I don’t know how I can translate that into something. But maybe I could play a Bengali character in a Hindi film. I hope I get a chance to do that.
Will we see you in Danish films?
I was reminded of the trauma of learning Danish (laughs). But I do know Danish as well, a little bit. I can manage my way through now. There again, it’s the same problem of language Danish cinema is one of the most acclaimed in the world. Every year, we don’t get through the top five nominations of the Oscars, I don’t know how they do it. It’s such a small country, and they are not obsessed with films the way we are. So I don’t know how they manage to reach the top every alternate year, if not every year. I’m pretty envious of that. Maybe if they give me the role of an Indian in a Danish film, I’ll do it.
How would you describe your sari style, and what are you reaching for this summer?
Saris came into my life after Haseen Dillruba. Before that, it was mostly South Indian saris that I had worn or learnt to drape. So, when it comes to my art of wearing a sari, I give credit to my experience in South India. Otherwise, a Punjabi girl living in Delhi doesn’t really grow up with saris as part of the scheme of things, it’s mostly salwar kameez. When I started doing Haseen Dillruba, I realised how comfortable and easy a sari can be, if you really want it to be. I love experimenting with what I wear, it doesn’t necessarily always turn out well. While wearing saris, I began to understand why young Indian girls find them to be a hassle. So I started mixing them with regular clothes to make them look more easily wearable, and I started enjoying the process. Most of the saris in my closet are cotton mulmuls, barring a few that I keep for festive occasions.
Assi is running in theatres.