'If 10 Year Olds Are Doing This Crime Of Rape...'

'PINK was about consent. Assi asks society, what are we doing about this issue? Where have we gone wrong?'

Taapsee Pannu, who has been a part of socially relevant films like PINK and Thappad, gets ready for an encore in Assi.

The film is about the alarming increase of rape in the country, and Taapsee tells Subhash K Jha, "These kind of topics bring out a certain excitement in me because they are very topical, very relevant"

'It is high time we stop the blame game'

As a responsible artists and celebrity, what do you have to say about the alarming rampancy of sexual assaults?

I feel we are all going wrong as a society somewhere because these kids, underage kids, committing this crime means there is something wrong we are doing as a society. It is high time we stop the blame game only with the justice system or the cops.

If 10 year olds are doing this crime, we need to look into our houses, our immediate surroundings, and do something about changing our style of upbringing.

Assi looks like a frighteningly powerful expose on rape. Were you happy to return to the topical arena?

I am always happy to stay in the topical arena. It just so happens I do not want it to be the only arena that I am part of. Sometimes you can address certain topics by not directly talking about them and instead just weaving it into a story and making the audience decide which side of the issue they are on.

It does not have to be in the courtroom all the time but yeah, it is exciting to put the audience in the judge's seat and give a head on discussion on the two sides of the same coin. These kind of topics bring out a certain excitement in me because they are very topical, very relevant. They blur the lines between reality and cinema, that is why it becomes more exciting.

'Now kids of 10, 11, 13 year olds doing this crime'

What is the secret magic between Anubhav Sinha and you? You two give out Mahesh Bhatt-Shabana Azmi vibes.

It is almost unreal if you compare me to someone like Shabanaji, it is too good to believe. I do not know how Anubhav sir feels about the comparison. I have not had a long term combination of hits with any co-actor except probably Amitji (Amitabh Bachchan), we are awaiting a hat trick.

I hope Assi succeeds so Anubhav sir and I can be a combination to be excited for in the future as well.

The subject of rape and justice almost seems to extend the narrative of PINK.

Yeah, it does take the discussion ahead. PINK was about consent. Assi asks society, what are we doing about this issue? Where have we gone wrong?

It is about such a crime that is happening around us; either with people we know directly or indirectly or maybe in the vicinity. It almost feels like we are a part of it in some way or the other; that we are not doing enough to stop it.

Because now, it is not just about a certain kind of people doing the crime or a certain age group of people. It has come down to kids of 10, 11, 13 year-olds doing this crime.

So if they are doing this crime, there is something wrong with the way we are bringing up the next generation. That's why it is way ahead of where the discussion of PINK stopped.

'I feel sad for those who believe happily married is an oxymoron'

What is it like being married? Is 'happily married' a contradiction?

I feel sad for those who believe happily married is an oxymoron. I don't even feel that 'burden' of this term 'marriage' because I don't feel much of a difference in the relationship or how we've dealt with it or how we were living before and after.

My husband (badminton player Mathias Boe) spends more time in India than what he used to before because he's taken sort of retirement from even coaching.

Sometimes it's strange for me to answer this question because I have not felt any difference in any way. We were living in together even before we got married in Denmark and in India. So nothing has changed for me to feel any different.

Photographs curated by Satish Bodas/Rediff