Taapsee dismisses man who asks her to speak Hindi

Taapsee Pannu was at the 50th edition of the International Film Festival of India on Saturday.

During a lively discussion in English about her journey in the film industry so far, a man asked her to switch to Hindi.

Taapsee, in turn, posed the question to a packed audience: “Does everybody here understand Hindi?”

A large number of people booed back.

But the man was persistent, saying that she should speak in Hindi because she is a Bollywood actress.

In response, Taapsee said, “I am also an actress in the Tamil and Telugu industries. Shall I speak in Tamil to you?”

The audience applauded and the man sat down.

Taapsee also rejected questions that got too personal. She did not encourage a man who wanted to know what she would name her daughter when she has one.

When one audience member asked Taapsee what it was like to work with Amitabh Bachchan, with whom she shared screen space on both ‘Pink’ and ‘Badla’, she said that people should ask her questions that are more relevant than what the experience of working with some co-star is.

“I expect better questions from a festival audience,” she said.

The issue of mostly being asked questions about a male co-worker is something women artistes have faced in many interactions at this year’s IFFI.

Even Isabelle Huppert, who won the festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award this year, had to go through this.

In a conversation moderated by film critic Anupama Chopra, Isabelle was asked many questions about the big filmmakers she has worked with, such as Jean Luc Godard, Werner Schroeter, Claude Chabrol and Michael Haneke.

Before the discussion, the Manmarziyaan actress had inaugurated a screening of special screening of Rajkumar Hirani’s 2006 film Lage Raho Munna Bhai for visually challenged children.