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Men are either dismissive of woman holding a bat, or they want to put her down: Taapsee Pannu on her upcoming ‘Shabaash Mithu’

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Taapsee Pannu has started shooting for her upcoming sports film Shabaash Mithu, based on the life of Indian women’s cricket team captain Mithali Raj. The actress is set to begin a two-month schedule with a clean slate as a new director has come onboard.

Earlier, Rahul Dholakia was supposed to direct the cricket biopic. However due to the pandemic Dholakia opted out of the project. Now, director Srijit Mukherji is onboard and the film is back on track.

Taapsee claimed that she’s approaching the film with a clean slate. “I am always in a dilemma whether to get the game right, or focus on her mannerisms and body language on the field. But for (Mithali Raj), the message matters the most,” the actress said.

 Revealing her fresh approach under director Srijit, Pannu said, “Those portions were about her getting selected in the international squad. Now, Srijit wants me to learn things, which I hadn’t as per Rahul’s brief. He wants me to tweak a few mannerisms. I have washed off the previous memories, and am viewing it as base training for the film. Now, we are getting into further detailing of the game.”

The actress is well aware of the notions associated with cricket and women. She joked saying, “Cricket bat aadmiyon ki jaagir hoti hai (Cricket bat is the property of men).”

“When I hold a bat while playing a friendly match, I can sense men going, ‘I will show her now.’ They are either dismissive of the woman holding a bat, or they want to put her down. If I face this as an actor, I can’t imagine what Mithali has faced through her journey. It must’ve been an arduous journey for women’s cricket to reach where it is today,” Taapsee was quoted saying.

Taapsee hopes that she does justice to the role but wish she had a longer amount of time to train for the film. “I hope our stories change things for the next generation,” she concluded