"There’s so much hypocrisy...": Taapsee Pannu calls out Bollywood's 'star system'

In Bollywood, Taapsee Pannu is a very gifted actor. She stands out due to her unorthodox and audacious decisions. The Dunki actress is one of the most bankable actresses in the business since she has starred in a number of profitable content-driven films. Keeping her professional game strong, the actress advanced by founding her own production company, Outsider Films. She now has two films on her belt: Blurr on Zed 5 and the most recent, Dhak Dhak, starring Ratna Pathak Shah, Sanjana Sanghi, Dia Mirza, and Fatima Sana Shaikh. Despite being at the top of her game, the actress recently highlighted the "star system," how it affects low-budget films, and the hypocrisy that permeates the business.

In a recent interview with E Times, Taapsee Pannu criticised the lack of funding for important films. The actress discussed the industry-wide hypocrisy in the interview. Before hearing a word about the movie, she said, they are curious to find out "who the hero is." “This myth I had about people believing in ‘content is king’ was shattered while making this (Dhak Dhak ) film. There’s so much hypocrisy. They will hear your one-line story and will be quick to ask, “Picture mein actor kaun hai (Who is the hero in the film)?” That decides their financial and emotional investment in the project,” stated Taapsee.

The actress went on to say that she never inquired about her co-star or the size of the producers when she signed a movie deal. She recalls working with a lot of novice co-stars and first-time directors, but she doesn't think everyone sees things the same way.

Even if there are OTT platforms, according to Taapsee, everything flows down to the "star system."

She added, “Everyone involved is to be blamed for this culture. It includes the actors, studios, audience, and everyone. It’s a cycle. Just because the studios recover their investment (by selling digital rights) for the smaller films, there’s minimal interest in packaging and releasing a film well. That’s detrimental to the growth of the industry because you are only enabling the big names. Baakiyon ko chance kaise milega (How will the rest get a chance)? It will only widen the gap between actors and stars. We keep saying Bollywood doesn’t attempt something meaningful but when we try to do that, there’s rarely any support and this must change.”