Taapsee Pannu reveals how Alpha’s box office failure impacted her films: ‘Investors back out’

Taapsee Pannu, whose new film Gandhari was released this week, has revealed that the failure of female-led films have a bigger impact on their contemporaries. While promoting Gandhari ahead of its release, Taapsee explained how the failure of Alia Bhatt-led Alpha affected her own projects.

How Alpha’s failure affected Taapsee’s work

Taapsee stated that failure of female led action movies are questioned more. “One thing I've noticed, and people have been asking me this lately, is that when you put money into a film or mount an action film on a female actor — which is not a conventional genre for a woman — people ask, ‘Why doesn't it work?' If you put money into it, make it a big film, and it doesn't work, then how will anyone invest money again? I have only one question. The big, male-driven film that money is invested in—does it always have an impeccable storyline?”

According to her, “if there is a male-driven action film, or any kind of big-budget film, and the story is 15 or 20—let's say 19 or 20—even if it is 15 or 20, it will work. But our measuring yard is different. If so much money is invested in a female-driven film, there is an expectation that, forget 19 or 20, you have to deliver 21. You cannot go wrong,” she pointed out.

She noted that such budgets are often considered “big” only in relative terms. She added, “All of our leading actresses who want to do films where we lead the story—it impacts all of us. All of our films get shelved. I can tell you from my own experience: if there is a big female-driven flop in a particular year, then the conversations I have with investors change. Investors back out.”

When she was asked if she faced issues after Alpha failed at the box office, Taapsee said, “Yes. Every year it happens. The conversations are like, ‘These days, female-driven films are not working. If such a big superstar's film is not working, then what will happen to the rest? That's why we won't make them now. Women-driven cinema is not popular now.'”

Taapsee added that this can result in several projects being abandoned altogether.

Taapsee also said that the opposite also happens when such films work.

“When someone else's film becomes popular, suddenly there are new phone calls. People say, ‘Let's attempt this genre. This is working.' Suddenly, if a horror movie is doing well and it is driven by a female actor, they call and say, ‘With a female, we can make horror. That has worked',” she said.

WION’s review of Gandhari

In her review of Gandhari, WION’s Shomini Sen said, “Watching Gandhari is a deeply frustrating exercise. It takes up a theme that has already been talked about it films and series before, adds a bit of Kahaani flavour with Bengal serving as a backdrop while a mother goes around looking for her missing daughter, adds pointless twists that do not help the narrative and ultimately makes the film overdramatic.

It is a pity that the film has Devasish Makhija as a director who has in the past made brilliant films like Ajji and Bhonsle. So many of the film’s subplots have loose ends, and so much is left unexplained. In the end, it is one woman show- fighting the odds, solving a murky case- all alone.” Read full review here