The posters of Neevevaro might connote Aadi Pinisetty as the hero but it is Tapsee who is the nucleus of the film as her character Vennela drives the story.
The fact that she selected that role shows the actor is settling for nothing but the best. The rumour mill is amok with word that she is doing the remake of RX100 but the actor refutes, “I have not been approached. I have no idea about RX100.” She is, however, forthcoming about Neevevaro. “Producer Kona Venkat said I was the first person approached for the role and it would’ve be a challenge to find someone if I wasn’t doing it. That brought a smile on my face. At the end of the day, all an artiste wants is that they are termed irreplaceable.”
After Pink, the Delhi-born actor won accolades for Mulk. Can one point out she’s typically typecast as a challenger of the status quo? She responds firmly, “If people think intelligent, strong and pivotal roles are stereotyped, I have only one answer: I will continue to pick characters that are strong - regardless of their shape and genre. I might not be the hero of the film but if you take the character out of the story, it will not be the same.”
Tapsee’s next is Manmarziyan, alongside Vicky Kaushal and Abhshek Bachchan, which is slated for a September release. “Every love story revolves around similar lines. How the love story... the scene and characters are connected and how the story is being adapted to today’s sensibilities is important. If Anurag Kashyap is the director, I am sure it will be unconventional and those aspects will be taken care of.”
Tapsee is well aware of the roles which have sent her career zooming. She believes that she bagged Judwaa 2 on account of her work in Mera Naam Shabana. “I did not get it because I was hot and good looking in Bollywood. It was the kind of characters I did in Pink and Mera Naam Shabana that have made me what I am today and these are the films with which people associate me. People come to me with sensible, brilliant scripts and they are outstanding filmmakers.
This is the biggest prize I have got because of the hard work I am doing. Manmarziya and Neevevaro are the only releases this year and next is coming only in 2019. Every year I will do at least one film in the south and there will three or four releases. Tadka is 90 percent complete and as an actor I can only wait for a call,” she reflects.
Talk about her looking very slim in Mulk and the 31 year-old is quick to correct you, “In Mulk I was looking fit and good and this look suited my age. I still have a lot of fat in my body and I am not as thin as I was in Judwaa. The producer Sajid was worried that I was losing weight. I had to share screen space with Jaqueline [Fernandez] and I had to look good. Now that I am following a healthy lifestyle, I am enjoying getting older. If I can perform like I was when at 25, I am more than happy.”