‘They are unapologetic about being grey’: Taapsee Pannu on Kanika Dhillon’s women

Taapsee Pannu, who has previously done Baby (2015) and Naam Shabana (2017), is fairly well-versed with what is required to do an action thriller. Since the action sequences in Gandhari are raw and shoots were intensive, it required a different kind of preparation. “I had to shoot action scenes for 12 hours at a stretch every day. My endurance had to be high enough for me to recover within the limited time I had. That was what I focused on,” recalls Pannu, who practises aerial yoga regularly.

To essay the character of Bani, who suffers a head injury while chasing her daughter’s kidnapper and loses her vision, Pannu had to undergo additional training. “Someone who had experienced similar blindness was appointed to teach me how this particular kind of traumatic blindness works — how much one can see and how it changes with time as the nerve recovers. I was also taught how to move around physically, how to walk, climb stairs and turn,” says the actor. These movements were incorporated in the action choreography of the film which was shot in Maharashtra’s Bhor.

Taapsee Pannu as Bani Sikdar in Gandhari.

From their first collaboration Manmarziyaan (2018) to talked-about Haseen Dillruba (2021) and now Gandhari, this actor-writer partnership has thrived on creating unconventional women characters. Kanika Dhillon believes Taapsee Pannu’s strength lies in her ability to inhabit characters who refuse to be neatly categorised and willingness to give her best to make her performance compelling.

“What makes grey female characters, written by Kanika, stay with the audience long after the film is over is their authenticity. A section of the audience will hate Rumi of Manmarziyaan and Rani of Haseen Dillruba. Some will love them. But they cannot ignore these characters. That’s because they’re just so real and unapologetically grey,” says Pannu. Gandhari, directed by Devashish Makhija, captures Bani’s refusal to give up, even when odds are seemed stacked against her.

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There is a deep understanding that binds Dhillon and Pannu together in their creative pursuit. For Dhillon, the element of “surprise” is central to their partnership. “Taapsee surprises me with every character she takes on. That’s why I come to her with my stories,” she says. What they have in common is a passion for telling different stories and surprising their audiences. The writer shares that whole idea is to push each other to get more exciting stories.

Their dark sense of humour has also made their collaborations delightful. “At least she can understand my humour and not get offended and vice-versa. Our talks, if somebody else is hearing us, might sound crazy,” says Dhillon. In spite of that they do have their disagreements. “We both are very opinionated. We agree to disagree, at times over silly things. It’s a sign of a healthy partnership,” says Pannu.