Taapsee Pannu

Pannu made her cinematic debut in 2010 with K. Raghavendra Rao's romantic musical Jhummandi Naadam.[19] She played the role of the daughter of a USA–based millionaire who comes to India to research traditional Telugu music.[20] Pannu got three more offers in Telugu prior to the film's release.[20] Her next film Aadukalam (2011), marked her debut in Tamil cinema. She played the role of an Anglo-Indian girl falling in love with a rural man played by Dhanush.[21] The film, set in the backdrop of Madurai, revolves around cockfights. It was critically acclaimed and proceeded to win six National Film Awards at the 58th National Film Awards ceremony. Speaking about her role, a reviewer from Sify said: "Debutant Taapsee is a promising find and she suits the character of an Anglo-Indian girl to the T."[22] She returned to the Telugu film industry with Vastadu Naa Raju (2011), opposite Vishnu Manchu.[23] She made a foray into Malayalam cinema later that year, with Doubles (2011), opposite Mammootty and Nadiya Moidu.[24] Paresh C Palicha of Rediff commented: "Taapsee Pannu as Saira Banu, whose entry into the scene becomes the bone of contention between the siblings, has nothing noteworthy to do".[25]

Pannu at the audio launch of Chashme Baddoor, 2013.

Pannu played a short role in her next release Mr. Perfect (2011). In it, she acted alongside Prabhas and Kajal Aggarwal.[26] She starred in a high budget film titled Veera (2011), opposite Ravi Teja and Kajal Aggarwal, which received moderate reviews.[27] She was next seen in her second Tamil film Vandhaan Vendraan, that fetched mixed reviews and did not fare well at the box office.[28] Her next film was Krishna Vamsi's Mogudu where she acted as a traditional Telugu girl opposite Gopichand and garnered critical acclaim for her performance. She worked on the Telugu–Tamil bilingual Gundello Godari—titled Maranthen Mannithen in Tamil—[29] apart from Daruvu and Shadow.[30][31][32]

In 2013, Pannu made her Hindi film debut with David Dhawan's Chashme Baddoor, co-starring Siddharth, Rishi Kapoor, Divyendu Sharma and Ali Zafar.[33] A remake of the eponymous 1981 film, it met with unanimous negative reviews but became a box-office success.[34][35] Later, she was seen in the big budget action thriller Arrambam co-starring Ajith Kumar and Arya.[36] She was awarded Most Enthusiastic Performer–Female Award at the 2014 Edison Awards for her performance in the film.[37]

After a year without releases, she starred with Akshay Kumar in Neeraj Pandey's film Baby (2015), as undercover agent Shabana Khan.[38] Later, she had two Tamil releases, the horror comedy Muni 3, opposite Raghava Lawrence and Aishwarya R. Dhanush's Vai Raja Vai, which featured her in a special appearance.[39]

While filming for Running Shaadi, Pannu was approached by Shoojit Sircar for the courtroom Pink. She was "curious and excited" about the subject as it had not "been dealt with head-on yet in mainstream cinema."[40] The film, which also starred Amitabh Bachchan and Kirti Kulhari, followed three girls who fight a case against a politician's nephew for molestation. The film and Pannu's performance met with universal acclaim.[41] Rajeev Masand noted that Pannu, along with other two ladies, " deliver natural performances as strong but emotionally vulnerable women, without a hint of affectation."[42] With worldwide revenue of ₹1.08 billion (US$15 million), Pink emerged as a commercial success.[43] Pannu later said that the film proved to be a turning point in her career.[40][44]

Pannu walking the ramp at the Lakme Fashion Week, 2017.

Pannu's first release of 2017 was the romantic comedy Running Shaadi, where she played a Punjabi girl who helps couples in eloping to get married. The film received mixed critical reception but praised her acting.[45] It was followed by the naval war drama The Ghazi Attack, based on the mysterious sinking of PNS Ghazi during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.[46] The film was shot simultaneously in Telugu and Hindi and performed modestly at the box-office.[47] Pandey noticed that Pannu's seven-eight minute sequence in the role of special agent Shabana Khan in Baby was well received after which he "decided to give the story an arc."[48] Pannu reprised her role in its spin-off titled, Naam Shabana. For the role, she trained in different forms of mixed martial arts like Kūdō and Krav Maga.[48] Both the film and Pannu's performance met with mixed response with Sarita A. Tanwar of Daily News and Analysis noting that she is "fantastic in every scene" and Udita Jhunjhunwala of Mint felt that she is "hardly likable" in the film.[49][50] Pannu subsequent roles were of a ghost in Telugu horror comedy film Anando Brahma and the protagonist's girlfriend in the action-comedy Judwaa 2.[51] The latter, which was a reboot of the 1997 namesake film, proved to be commercial success, earning over ₹2 billion (US$28 million).[52]

Dil Juunglee (2018), co-starring Saqib Saleem, was Pannu's first release of the year. It failed to create an impact among the critics and the audience.[53] Her followup was Shaad Ali's sports drama Soorma which was based on the life of field hockey player Sandeep Singh (played by Diljit Dosanjh).[54] Despite mixed reviews, Soorma became a financial success.[55] Pannu then depicted a lawyer in Anubhav Sinha's Mulk. Pannu said that the film presents true patriotism and nationalism without taking sides.[56] Pannu's performance was praised with Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in calling her one of the "strong turns" of the film;[57] it earned her a Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress nomination.[58]

After playing the role of an antagonist in the Telugu action thriller Neevevaro, Pannu acted in Anurag Kashyap's romantic drama Manmarziyaan with Abhishek Bachchan and Vicky Kaushal.[59][60] In the latter, Pannu played Rumi Bagga, a free-spirited girl caught in a love triangle.[61] The film premiered at 2018 Toronto International Film Festival and met with mostly positive response.[62] Anupama Chopra called her performance "mercurial and mysterious and maddening": "With her cloud of red hair enveloping her, Rumi seems, continually to be a woman on a warpath."[63] The same year, she also acted in two short films: Baarish aur Chowmein and Nitishastra.[64]

Pannu attending an event for Saand Ki Aankh in 2019 with co-star Bhumi Pednekar.

Pannu had a string of releases in 2019 with the first one being Sujoy Ghosh's mystery thriller Badla, an official remake of the 2016 Spanish film The Invisible Guest. It also marked her second collaboration with Amitabh Bachchan.[65] Badla met with favourable critical reviews with Namrata Joshi mentioning that Pannu is "in fine form";[66] the film met with strong box-office results.[67][68] Pannu then essayed the role of a wheelchair-bound game designer who battles a home invasion in Game Over, directed by Ashwin Saravanan.[69] The film was shot simultaneously in Tamil and Telugu language. During the duration of the filming, Pannu had to be in a wheelchair for 12 hours for 25 days.[70] The film and her performance were praised; Saibal Chatterjee said that Pannu "is never less than convincing" and "may be the primary reason why you must go out a watch this film."[71]

She next played an ISRO scientist in Mission Mangal which was about India's first interplanetary expedition, Mars Orbiter Mission.[72] Pannu liked the idea of a space film with several leading ladies in it.[73] With a global collection of over ₹2.9 billion (US$41 million), Mission Mangal proved Pannu's biggest financial success.[74]

Her final film of the year was Tushar Hiranandani's biographical film Saand Ki Aankh, co-starring Bhumi Pednekar. Pannu portrayed the role of Prakashi Tomar who is one of the world's oldest sharpshooters for which she underwent three months of training in pistol shooting.[75] Her role was well received with Anna M. M. Vetticad writing that both Pannu and Pednekar succeed in "delivering equally finely tuned, sensitive performances."[76] Pannu and Pednekar received the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress.[77]

Pannu's sole release of 2020 was Anubhav Sinha's drama Thappad, where she played the role of Amrita, a home-maker who files for divorce after her husband slaps her. She said that the character's "righteousness, her maturity to handle every situation" made her suffocate.[78] The film and Pannu's performance met with positive critical response.[79] Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express noted that she "drives the film, but the effort she puts into her performance shows."[80]

She will next star in the murder mystery Haseen Dillruba opposite Vikrant Massey, the Tamil-language spy thriller Janaganamana opposite Jayam Ravi, the athletic drama Rashmi Rocket opposite Aparshakti Khurana and the sports biopic Shabaash Mithu as cricketer Mithali Raj. In addition, Pannu will team up with Tahir Raj Bhasin for the comedy Looop Lapeta and Vijay Sethupathi in an untitled Tamil-language comedy film.[81]