Taapsee Pannu: didn't fit conventional beauty standards, tried to change myself

Actor Taapsee Pannu says she was insecure of her unconventional looks and even underwent chemical treatments to straighten her curly hair.

She told Cosmopolitan magazine in an interview, "It was the opposite of everything I was. I didn't have those big ‘doe eyes’; I didn't have an elegant, small nose...I had this large, ‘royal nose’, as people call it. I didn't have luscious lips or straight, silky hair—you know, the kind that actresses flipped around. I had curly hair, and I remember noticing that none of the actresses on television had hair that looked like mine."

She added, "While I was still in school, I visited a salon to get my hair chemically straightened—twice—using those terrible chemical treatments that were available at the time. And that completely ruined my hair! At first, I was so frustrated to have limp ends with curly bits growing on the top, and then I was horrified when my hair began falling."

She went on to say, "I did not fit the conventional parameters of beauty. And for many years, I tried to change myself, and failed miserably at it. Until finally I realised that I need to live with—and love—what I have today, I understand how beautiful it is when you truly love the way you are."

Taapsee is among the most successful actors in Bollywood. She had three releases this year, 'Haseen Dillruba', 'Annabelle Sethupathi' and sports drama 'Rashmi Rocket'.

Taapsee currently has half-a-dozen films in pipeline. She has 'Looop Lapeta', the official Bollywood remake of cult-hit German film Run Lola Run. She also has 'Dobaaraa', a thriller directed by Anurag Kashyap; 'Shabaash Mithu', a Mithali Raj biopic.

Taapsee will also be seen in 'Blurr', the official Hindi remake of Spanish film Julia's Eyes, and 'Mishan Impossible'.