Whether it’s the pay gap or the misconceptions widespread in the Hindi film industry, Taapsee Pannu has never shied away from revealing uncomfortable truths, even if it means challenging the status quo. The actress has once again spoken about another persistent issue in the entertainment world: age discrimination and the double standards women face as they get older. In a conversation, Taapsee reflected on how difficult it is for actresses to establish themselves before being considered ‘too old’ for certain roles.
‘You are not young enough to be in a rom-com’
“I entered the Hindi film industry in my mid-twenties, right? Now, for three or four years, you struggle to get a proper role. By the time you hit the mark, you’ve crossed 30. Then they say you are not young enough to be in a rom-com.” Highlighting the industry’s preference for younger actresses, she added, “So even today, many times I feel like, ‘But you don’t really need a younger person for this role.’ Yet they still want to choose younger. This doesn’t happen with men. Of course, we can all see that. But yes, age discrimination is a big issue.”
According to Taapsee, a similar trend prevails in the South Indian film industries. Recalling her own experiences, she said, “In the South too, this happened with me. The moment I was cast opposite a relatively senior actor, younger actors didn’t want to work with me. They would say, ‘Oh no, she was opposite that actor, so now…’ Would you dare say that about Shah Rukh Khan? You know that an actress’s life changes after working with Shah Rukh Khan. So that restriction isn’t here, but in the South, when I worked there, that restriction was there for me.”
The pressure to maintain a certain body image
The actress also recently spoke about the pressure to maintain a specific body image, stating that at one point she pushed herself beyond healthy limits to achieve a flat stomach. On Instagram Stories, Taapsee wrote, “I remember I had this obsession because I was extremely fit while growing up, but I never understood why lower belly fat always remained. I exercised so intensely that I over-pushed myself, and rightly so, when you over-push yourself, it sets off an alarm in your brain that your body needs protection.”
She further explained, “So instead of actually losing water retention, the body starts retaining it, and then that lower belly fat, which might not just be fat but also water retention, stays, and over-exercising increases it, which I really feel people should not do.”
On the work front, Taapsee will now be seen in the Netflix film ‘Gandhari’, directed by Devashish Makhija and written by Kanika Dhillon. She was last seen in Anubhav Sinha’s ‘Assi’.
