In a recent interview Taapsee Pannu revealed that she was the last choice of the makers of the her film Haseen Dilruba, and only when other actresses had turned it down was she offered the role.
Taapsee, in a chat with Rajeev Masand during Netflix’s Actors’ Roundtable 2021, said that Kanika Dhillon didn’t want her to do the film because she had worked in a similar film Badla at that time. Moreover, she even said that as actor Vikrant Massey was the hero of the film, other big actresses turned the project down.
Actors turned down Haseen Dilruba as Vikrant Massey was starring in it.
The actor’s remarks on the politics of Bollywood make us wonder, is talent even a consideration for becoming a successful actor? The industry worships none other than the Kapoors and Khans and considers them as megastars, but talent like Vikrant’s is overlooked.
The mere thought of other actors rejecting the film because they won’t work with anyone other than the ‘stars’ of the industry is disappointing. Vikrant has time after time proven his mettle as a good actor, and that’s the only thing that matters.
The highly competitive, controversial and nepotism-based Bollywood leaves no opportunities to mock and pull down the so-called outsiders, even if it is in subtle ways like this. It seems as if talent alone is not enough to be successful in the industry: you need so much more than that, in form of connections and referrals from big names.
But you can’t hold back a rising star, can you? Vikrant started his career with television soaps, and smaller roles in films, but he slowly earned a name with his versatile performances, with projects like Dolly Kitty Aur Chamakte Sitaare and Death In The Gunj.
It’s high time Bollywood starts recognizing talent, instead of looking down on rising actors.