Taapsee Pannu has recalled some of the difficult experiences she faced during the early years of her acting career, including being removed from films after committing her dates and being given what she described as an unusually personal explanation for one replacement.
Taapsee Pannu has opened up about the less comfortable side of working in the film industry, recalling instances in which she says she was removed from projects without receiving a clear explanation.
In a recent conversation with journalist Nayandeep Rakshit, the actor discussed how her lack of experience when she entered the industry sometimes made it difficult for her to recognise what was acceptable and what was not.
Among the experiences she remembered was being replaced in a film after she had already committed her dates.
According to Taapsee, she was not given a definitive explanation for the decision. She said she was left speculating about what might have happened behind the scenes.
“I have been told that I was replaced by the hero of the film. God knows the reason. I keep imagining the reasons,” she said, while suggesting several possible explanations.
Taapsee added that she kept asking why she had been removed but still did not receive what she considered a solid reason.
‘The Hero’s Wife Doesn’t Like You’
Taapsee also recalled what she described as the worst reason she had heard for being replaced.
According to the actor, she was told:
“The hero’s wife doesn’t like you.”
Taapsee said she did not know why the actor’s wife allegedly disliked her.
She presented the incident as an example of the kinds of explanations she encountered during the early stages of her career, when she was still learning how the film industry operated.
Taapsee Says She Was Once Removed From a Film Without Being Told
This was not the first time Taapsee had publicly discussed being dropped from a film.
In a 2021 conversation with Siddharth Kannan, she recalled another experience in which she said she had been finalised for a project before being removed. She said she learned about the development through media reports.
Taapsee recalled that the people involved later contacted her to apologise after she spoke publicly about the situation, but she said she still felt the actual reason had not been properly explained to her.
One such episode was discussed publicly in connection with Pati Patni Aur Woh, the 2019 film that eventually starred Kartik Aaryan, Bhumi Pednekar and Ananya Panday.
At the time, Taapsee questioned the circumstances surrounding her removal. The film’s producers, however, said she had been among several actresses considered for the role and that no formal commitment had been made to her.
The differing accounts underline why Taapsee’s recollection should be understood as her account of the events, rather than as an independently established explanation for the casting decision.
Taapsee Pannu Says She Later Recognised How Some Scenes Were Hypersexualised
Taapsee also spoke about another aspect of her early career: how scenes involving female actors can be presented differently from what an actor expects while filming.
She said that, when she was new to acting, she did not always recognise when a scene was being made more sexualised than she had anticipated.
“I didn’t know it was hypersexualised. You only realise it when you see the output,” she said.
According to Taapsee, she sometimes expected a scene to appear aesthetically presented, only to discover after watching the completed film that the emphasis had been different.
She explained that inexperienced actors can rely heavily on people around them when trying to understand what is considered normal on a film set.
“You have been told by people around you that it is normal, everybody is doing it, so you feel maybe you are coming from a different background and you don’t know,” she said.
Taapsee added that she eventually realised that glamour and sexualisation were not necessarily the same thing.
“You can be glamorous in a film without being hypersexualised,” she said.
Her Earlier Comments on the Presentation of Women in Cinema
Taapsee has previously spoken about the way women’s bodies are presented in Indian films, including the treatment of female actors during song sequences.
In an earlier conversation with Shubhankar Mishra, she compared the way Hindi and South Indian films have historically focused on different parts of the female body.
She also recalled hearing about actresses being asked to wear padded bras during shoots and described some of the communication surrounding such requests as awkward.
Another incident she previously discussed involved her Telugu debut Jhummandi Naadam, directed by K Raghavendra Rao.
Taapsee recalled a scene in which a coconut was thrown towards her midriff as part of an attempt to create a sensual moment.
Reflecting on the scene, she questioned the logic behind using the action to convey sensuality.
Taapsee Pannu’s Recent Work
Taapsee continues to work across Hindi cinema and streaming projects. Her recent release Gandhari arrived on Netflix on September 3, 2026.
Her latest comments offer a look back at the challenges she says she encountered while establishing herself as an actor, from uncertain casting decisions to questions about how women are presented on screen.
While some of the incidents she described involve events that were never publicly explained in detail, Taapsee’s recollections highlight her perspective on navigating the industry during the early part of her career.
