“I AM A PUBLIC FIGURE, NOT PUBLIC PROPERTY”

When Cosmo first interviewed Taapsee Pannu, over two years ago, she had just finished working on Pink and was being touted as a ‘rising’ star (a reference that didn’t leave her thrilled). But that was then. Because 24 months later, Taapsee has her name attached to many a successful film, collected nominations each year in the ‘Best Actress’ category, and worked with some of the biggest names in Bollywood. ‘Rising’ is not even close to cutting it: she’s grown to become a legit A-lister, with more solo lead roles than many of her contemporaries, and a career conspicuous with several striking choices—Naam Shabana, Mulk, Manmarziyan, to name a few—and an admirable fan following (13.3m on Instagram, if that’s anything to go by).

“I don’t have many friends in the industry, because I feel