Playing a trauma victim was challenging: Taapsee

Taapsee Pannu is all smiles as she is in the city after a few years to promote her trilingual film, Game Over, directed by Ashwin Saravanan of Maya fame and bankrolled by Sashikanth. “Sashi and I are long-time friends, who usually do not discuss films. One fine day, he told me about bankrolling a film and wanted me onboard for the project. Thefirst question I asked him was if this was a horror movie. I heaved a hugesigh of relief only after he told methat it was a thriller,” she begins.

Taapsee says that she couldn’t turn down the offer after she read the script. “I immediately agreed to do the film after I read the script. I haven’t come across such a brilliant script in any language I have worked in over the years. I saw clips of Maya and was impressed with the aesthetics Ashwin had incorporated,” she adds.

Taapsee also talks about how physically and mentally challenging Game Over was to her. “I play a character named Swapna, who is wheelchair-bound. I haven’t had even a small fracture in my life, but for nearly 70 per cent of the film, I would be seen in a wheelchair. Moreover, there were cameras attached to the wheelchair with a rig and I had to move it along with the cameras. That way, my workout sessions were taken care of as well,” she quips.

“The film is one of the most challenging projects in my career. The character I play is physically challenged and at the same time undergoes trauma. With those restrictions, it was difficult to bring the desired body language on screen, especially since the film totally revolves around me. Fortunately or unfortunately you will have to see me on screen for 100 minutes,” she quickly adds.

Taapsee, who is known for her roles in Aadukalam and Kanchana 2 says she is still trying to pick up Tamil. “Though I am learning, I didn’t feel bad that I haven’t mastered Tamil yet because Game Over isn’t a dialogue-driven film. It is more action and performance-based. However, I told Ashwin that it will be a different ball game altogether when I shoot for the project as I am familiar with the language and can bring in value addition elements,” she says. Taapsee on a concluding note talks about the pay parity. “We are paid lesser than our male counterparts, but it depends on the revenue a film makes. If our films’ openings are as huge as male stars, we will be paid huge,” she concludes.