Taapsee Pannu says she feels secure as an actor in the film industry today but still has miles to go in order to achieve her dream of becoming the quintessential Bollywood star.
The 31-year-old actor says acting always keeps her on her toes and she absolutely welcomes it because she does not want to feel too relaxed.
"I'm very secure as an actor, but not as a star. I don't know where will I be sent back to if a couple of my films fail at the box office. But I think that is fine because it keeps me on my toes to find something new.
"If I start feeling too secure and comfortable, I might just relax, and then keep doing what I'm good at, knowing that it will work. So I think I'm fine with it not being that comfortable. That's the joy of this profession, it keeps you on your toes," Taapsee told PTI in an interview.
Becoming a star is a work in progress, says the actor, who wants that in future audiences should be able to identify a film just by her name and she has been working towards it by delivering critically-praised performances in films such as "Mulk", "Manmarziyaan", "Badla" and her latest "Game Over".
"I don't identify myself being the star still because I feel the definition of being a star is that people just blindly trust you and spend money at the box office for you. Audiences do that for the Khans (Shah Rukh, Salman and Aamir), they just go and watch their films blindly.
"So I'm waiting for the day that happens for me where I consider myself to be a star. Before that, I'm just an actor who is trying to make interesting films. I hope that one fine day people will identify my choices to be worth their time and money."
Taapsee says she will continue to experiment with different roles as she is trying to build a "niche for myself".
"I think people, in the industry and even outside, now believe that I can pull off good performances. So that way, I'm a little secure because that is not in the question."
Besides many critically-acclaimed turns, Taapsee has also starred in commercial hits like "Judwaa 2" and more recently "Badla".
The actor says box office numbers do matter to her as that is the only way she can gauge the mood of the audiences regarding her performance in a film.
"It just shows business. If my film makes money, more films will be made, and more people will trust me with their money. And that's how we work. So it needs to make money.
"I can be happy about the critics and thankful to them that they have validated me time and again, but eventually everything comes down to the amount of money the film collects at the box office. That's what eventual success and failure is all about," Taapsee says.
"Game Over", a psychological thriller, released countrywide on Friday.
