Taapsee Pannu Stirs Controversy with Raw Comments on Tollywood’s On-Set Culture

Bengaluru/Hyderabad, Feb 22: Bollywood star Taapsee Pannu, who began her acting journey in the Telugu film industry, has sparked a fresh debate across social media following her candid remarks regarding the objectification of women in regional cinema versus Bollywood. Promoting her latest socially-charged courtroom drama, Assi (released February 20), Taapsee opened up about the “uncomfortable” visual glammour that dominates Indian film sets, specifically targeting the South’s fixation on the midriff.

In a recent interview with Shubhankar Mishra, Taapsee didn’t hold back when asked about the portrayal of female bodies in song sequences. She noted a distinct difference in how regional industries choose to “glamorize” their leading ladies, stating that while Hindi cinema often focuses on cleavage, South Indian cinema remains “obsessed with the navel.” She elaborated on the awkwardness behind the scenes, revealing that directors in the South often have specific “requirements” for an actress’s physique that are relayed through a chain of command rather than direct communication.

The most striking part of her interview involved her revelation about being asked to wear padded bras for song shoots. She described an “embarrassing” process where a director tells an assistant, who tells a stylist, who then informs the wardrobe staff to tell the actress. She painted a vivid picture of the discomfort, noting that when an actor has to leave the set to make these adjustments, everyone on set—mostly men—knows exactly why they are walking away and what will look different upon their return.

This isn’t the first time Taapsee has ruffled feathers in Tollywood. Years ago, she went viral for mocking a scene from her debut film, Jhummandi Naadam (2010), where a coconut was thrown at her midriff. While she eventually apologized to legendary director K. Raghavendra Rao for those comments, her latest statements suggest she remains critical of the industry’s “glamour” standards. Reactions have been polarized, with many praising her for calling out systemic objectification, while loyalists accuse her of “biting the hand that fed her.”

Beyond the glamour debate, Taapsee expressed grave concern for the future of independent films like Assi. She warned that realistic, rooted stories are becoming an “extinct species” because audiences prefer to wait for OTT releases. She argued that if viewers don’t support these films in theaters, streaming platforms will stop buying them altogether, favoring only “massy potboilers” that have already proven successful at the box office.