'You Are Only Desirable If...': Taapsee Pannu Exposes Bollywood’s Shocking Early Career Advice

So, I was just reading about this because Taapsee Pannu is always so blunt about how the industry works, right? She recently opened up about the early days of her career and man, the "advice" she got was honestly kind of wild.

(Photo Credit: Taapsee/Instagram) Taapsee Pannu Exposes Bollywood’s Shocking Early Career Advice

Basically, she said that when she was starting out, people in the industry (managers, peers, etc.) told her she had to follow a very specific "heroine" blueprint to be succesful.

The "Big Star" Rule

Taapsee mentioned that she was explicitly told to only act opposite "big stars." The logic they gave her was that if she worked with smaller actors or did female-led films too early, she would be "downgraded" in the eyes of the big production houses.

She said the quote she kept hearing was something like, "You are only a desirable heroine if you are seen with a big hero." It's like they viewed the actresses as accessories to the men's stardom rather than artists in their own right.

The "No Dating" Policy

This part is even funnier (and more annoying). Apparently, she was advised not to date anyone—or at least, not to be public about it.

The Reason: They told her that if the audience knew she was "taken," she would lose her "fantasy appeal" to the male audience.

Her Response: If you know Taapsee, you know she didn't listen lol. She’s been pretty steady with her partner (now husband!) Mathias Boe for years, even when people told her it would ruin her career.

Breaking the Mold

Honestly, it’s lucky she didn't listen to them. She ended up doing movies like Pink, Badla, and Thappad—movies where she was the main draw or the central character—and that’s actually what made her a household name.

I think she even joked that if she had followed that "standard" advice, she probably would have just been "Girlfriend #2" in a bunch of action movies and then faded away after a few years. It just goes to show how much "conventional wisdom" in Bollywood can be totally wrong.

I'm curious, do you think the industry has actually changed since then, or do new actresses still get told this stuff behind closed doors?