'Hero's wife doesn't like you': Taapsee recalls the 'worst reason' for being replaced

'The hero's wife doesn't like you': Taapsee Pannu recalls the 'worst reason' for being replaced in a film despite locking dates

Taapsee Pannu has opened up about some of the more unsettling experiences she encountered during her journey in Bollywood, including being dropped from projects without a clear explanation and later discovering that scenes she had shot were presented in a way she felt was unnecessarily sexualised.The actor also recalled an old incident when she was reportedly replaced in a film because the leading actor’s wife did not want her to be part of the project.

Taapsee Pannu recalls losing a film despite locking her dates

In a recent conversation with Nayandeep Rakshit, Taapsee spoke about an instance when she was removed from a project even after her dates had been confirmed. According to the actor, she was never given a concrete explanation, leaving her to speculate about what may have happened behind the scenes.“I have been told that I was replaced by the hero of the film. God knows the reason. I keep imagining the reasons. I can imagine the insecurity; I can imagine that he wanted someone else whom he was closer to. I can imagine various reasons, but I wasn’t given any solid reason. I was just told that he didn’t want me in the film because I kept asking the reason for my removal,” she said.

Taapsee says she was replaced because ‘the hero’s wife doesn’t like you’

Taapsee then recalled what she described as the “worst reason” she had ever been given for being replaced.

“The worst reason given to me when I was replaced was, ‘The hero’s wife doesn’t like you.’ I don’t know why she didn’t like me,” she said.The actor did not name the film, the leading actor or his wife while recounting the incident.

Taapsee Pannu recalls discovering she had been hypersexualised on screen

Taapsee also reflected on her early years in the industry and admitted that, as a newcomer, she did not always realise when a scene was being filmed in a way that could make it appear more sexualised in the final cut.“I didn’t know it was hypersexualised. You only realise it when you see the output. When you are shooting, you don’t realise that it is going in that direction. I thought it was going to be very aesthetic and not too focused on that. When I saw it, I felt like it was unnecessary,” she said.She explained that being new to filmmaking meant she often relied on people around her to understand what was considered normal on a film set.“You have been told by people around you that it is normal, everybody is doing it, so you feel maybe you are coming from a different background and you don’t know. I didn’t have a clue about acting or filmmaking, so I thought it was part and parcel of the job, only to realise later that it’s not necessary,” Taapsee said.The actor added that glamour and sexualisation need not go hand in hand. “You can be glamorous in a film without being hypersexualised,” she said.

Taapsee Pannu’s work front

Taapsee Pannu was most recently seen in the Netflix film 'Gandhari,' which premiered on September 3, 2026.