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Taapsee Pannu on ‘Mission Mangal’ success

Since its release last week, Akshay Kumar’s ‘Mission Mangal’ (2019) has turned out to be quite a box office hit. In light of the success, Taapsee Pannu spoke about the overwhelming reaction.

Reported on Pinkvilla, ‘Mission Mangal’ (2019) which primarily has a female lead starring, Pannu, Vidya Balan, Sonakshi  Sinha, Kirti Kulkari and Nithya Menen alongside Kumar, has been recorded as one of the biggest openers yet for the latter, as the film races on to achieve Rs 100 crore at the box office.

Happy of the success the film has gained, Pannu shares her delight, “It’s a really good sign that people have been so receptive of a film that not only has big names attached to it but also has good content. We have always been seeing thunderous openings for movies that only had pure commercial masala elements but this is like a big step towards the direction where films that are heavy on content are also making a big opening. Of course, it has to be with the right names attached to it. For me also, it’s a huge opening. It’s the biggest opening for all of us, be it Akshay sir, Vidya, me, Sonakshi, Nithya, Kirti or Sharman. That makes it special and we are very proud of it.”

In Kumar’s long reigning career, ‘Mission Mangal’ (2019) which has five women in leading roles, becomes his biggest opening hit. Pannu quipped that they can now boast how the women are the reason behind his success, “People keep saying that does it take an Akshay Kumar to present a female driven film or a film where women have pivotal roles. We can also boast and say that we women together gave Akshay sir his biggest opener. We are a proud to be part of this film that’s opened so huge.”

Asked if she can see a change in the industry and whether this will encourage others to do the same, Pannu strongly feels it will, “Well, that is a big wish and I have had this wish for years, especially since I started taking up female protagonist’s role. The struggle was always to find which man will be okay to let the women take centre stage or even share the stage with her. It’s a big struggle. A lot of women who are part of such films will agree that we do have trouble casting the leading man if the girl’s role is slightly better or even at par with the man’s role at times.”

Further adding, “I hope Mission Mangal’s success gives confidence to a lot of men that they think that what matters is not how many minutes you have in the film but how you fit in that role. It should be substantial for you to be part of the film so that without you, the film is incomplete. That should be the criteria for the films. But not how many dialogues you have or what’s your screen time. If the film is good, everyone is good. If it’s not, then the blame game starts. We all, as actors, should have the confidence and security to love the script first be content with our role without seeing the screen space much honestly.”