I use cinema as medium to express my opinion, says Taapsee Pannu

Actress Taapsee Pannu says she prefers to address social issues and express her opinion through the medium of cinema rather than using other platforms.

Her forthcoming film "Mulk" talks about a minority community in India and how they face injustice due to their religion.

Asked if she subscribes to the idea of the film, Taapsee told IANS: "From my school days I have learnt that India is a secular, democratic and republic country where we treat people from every religion with equality. In fact, that is how we lead our life around our closed circuit."

"Conflict started when we all grew up seeing a certain hatred is also growing, that we read in a newspaper, see among few groups of people... Of course, such issues should be addressed and as an actress, all I can do is use cinema as a medium to express my opinion."

"Since I am an actress and not a social activist, cinema is the best medium for me to state my views. I cannot talk about issues randomly, so I would rather use acting as a tool to reach out to more and more people," she added.

Taapsee is known for films like "Pink", "Naam Shabana" and the short film "Nitishastra", which have dealt with issues like moral policing on girls, rape and gender inequality.

Being a Sikh girl who has grown up in an environment of communal harmony, Taapsee said: "I was taught how to pray while visiting Gurdwara, who are the Gurus we have in Sikhism and every other basic thing that a Sikh girl should know.

"However, I was also told that as a human, I am free to celebrate other festivals and mingle with people from other religions. So, I have no conflict in mind to celebrate Christmas, Holi or Eid."

Taapsee believes the negativity is over-served in current times where social media and news channels are in the rush to grab eyeballs.

Citing an example, she said: "When the Maratha Kranti Morcha started, I was getting calls from my father who lives in Delhi. Since he watched the news channel, he panicked that maybe a violent protest broke out in the whole of Mumbai city. I tried hard to make him understand that this part of the city is fine and I am okay.

"Such things happen with all of us if we are constantly watching something negative about something. I think when the rating competition between TV channels will go away and the mass audience will get to watch a balanced view of our society, I think many misconceptions will go away."

In "Mulk", Taapsee plays a lawyer. The film is releasing on August 3.