Taapsee Pannu addressed the portrayal of female roles in films.
Her remarks follow intense social media backlash over the depiction of women characters in Ram Charan's Peddi and Yash's Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown Ups.
Taapsee noted that the cinema industry made significant progress before Covid-19 but is now slacking again as demand-and-supply commercial logic sidelines art and craft.
Taapsee Pannu Discusses Ongoing Debate Around Female Objectification In Cinema
The actor, recently seen in Netflix's Gandhari alongside Ishwak Singh and Chhaya Kadam.
Summary
Taapsee Pannu has questioned how films portray women. The actor said movie producers routinely deflect public anger by arguing viewers dictate on-screen depictions. Her comments follow severe digital outrage over female depictions in big-budget releases such as Ram Charan's Peddi and Yash's Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown Ups.
Taapsee Pannu questions female portrayals
Speaking to Zoom TV, Taapsee said filmmakers routinely hold viewers responsible for questionable characterisations. Performers need decisive backing from viewers to alter the status quo, she added.
“No matter how much noise you make, you'll probably still find an equal number of profiles on social media using the same picture, zooming in on it, using weird angles in different kinds of videos and pictures, and kind of making it viral. So, there is an audience for that on social media.”
Calling the process “demand and supply”, Taapsee added, “People think ki janta maang rahi hai toh humko dena chahiye (People think if the audience wants this, we should deliver), how else will we earn money? So art takes a back seat; craft takes a back seat. We did progress a lot before Covid, where we were catching up with the best, but now we are again slacking.”
According to Taapsee, filmmakers put the responsibility on the audience. “And all the makers will blame the audience, and that's where we all actors fail to give a comeback,” she added
“That's a battle we will lose, and only the audience has to help us win it,” she said.
Peddi and Toxic backlash details
Audiences specifically condemned the hypersexualisation of Janhvi Kapoor in Peddi, targeting suggestive camera angles, romantic sequences and an emphasis on physical looks over character depth. The director subsequently excised the controversial footage and issued a formal apology.
Toxic faced intense scrutiny before hitting theatres. Backlash escalated once the film arrived, with viewers accusing makers of objectifying female roles through pure glamour and sensuality. Audiences argued the script framed women purely around their connection to the male protagonist.
Advertisement
Taapsee was recently seen in Netflix's Gandhari. The Devashish Makhija directorial also stars Ishwak Singh, Chhaya Kadam, Swastika Mukherjee and Mita Vashisht.
Published At: