Taapsee Pannu on Objectification in Cinema: Audiences Must Help Actors Challenge the Trend

Taapsee Pannu has argued that the objectification of women in commercial cinema cannot be challenged by actors alone, saying filmmakers often defend such portrayals as a response to what audiences supposedly want.

The actor addressed the subject during an interview with Zoom while promoting her Netflix film Gandhari. Her comments have circulated under the quote, “How else will we earn money?” However, the line needs context: Taapsee was describing the commercial justification commonly offered for producing such material, not endorsing objectification as a way to earn money.

Her larger argument was that audience choices, online consumption and the film industry’s financial incentives reinforce one another. According to Taapsee, meaningful change will require viewers to support different forms of representation rather than expecting actors to fight the system independently.

What Taapsee Pannu actually said

During the Zoom Fan Club conversation, Taapsee was asked about the continued objectification of women in films and whether the commercial success of such projects encourages more of the same.

She said criticism generated in the “virtual world” does not necessarily alter wider viewing behaviour. Images condemned by one section of social media can simultaneously be cropped, enlarged and circulated by other accounts, creating a visible market for the same material.

Taapsee described the cycle as one of “demand and supply.” Paraphrasing the industry’s commercial reasoning, she said filmmakers believe they should provide what the public is asking for because they also need to make money.

She then made her own position clearer: “So art takes a back seat; craft takes a back seat.”

The distinction is important. The widely used headline quote “How else will we earn money?” could sound like Taapsee’s personal defence of objectification when isolated from the surrounding answer. In the full exchange, she was questioning the market-based explanation used to justify it.

Why Taapsee believes audiences are central to change

Taapsee said the industry had made considerable creative progress before the pandemic but was now falling behind again. She argued that filmmakers can avoid responsibility by pointing towards viewer demand, leaving actors with no effective response.

“That’s a battle we will lose,” she said, before adding that audiences would have to help actors win it.

Her argument does not absolve filmmakers, producers or performers of responsibility. Instead, it identifies a feedback loop: sensational imagery attracts attention; online users amplify it; commercial success is then cited as evidence that viewers want more of the same.

Taapsee’s remarks suggest that social-media criticism becomes less influential when consumption patterns tell studios a different story.

Did Taapsee target Toxic, Peddi or their actresses?

The interview question was framed amid public discussion about the portrayal of women in recent commercial films, including Peddi and Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups. Published accounts have consequently connected Taapsee’s answer with both titles.

Her comments, however, focused on the wider system of audience demand, online circulation and commercial decision-making. They should not be presented as a personal attack on Janhvi Kapoor, Kiara Advani or any other female performer.

Nor did Taapsee claim that every glamorous or sensual portrayal of a woman is automatically objectionable. The point under discussion was the use of women’s bodies as a commercial device at the expense of character, storytelling and craft.

That difference is significant. Conflating objectification with every depiction of sexuality would flatten a more complicated debate about agency, context and the camera’s treatment of women.

The comments arrive with Gandhari

Taapsee made the remarks during promotions for Gandhari, which premiered on Netflix on September 3, 2026.

According to Netflix’s official synopsis, the thriller follows a mother who loses both her eyesight and her daughter following a kidnapping, prompting her to pursue those responsible. Taapsee leads the film alongside Ishwak Singh, Chhaya Kadam, Swastika Mukherjee, Mita Vashisht and Jatin Sarna.

The film is directed by Devashish Makhija and written and produced by Kanika Dhillon. It also reunites Taapsee and Dhillon after their collaborations on the Haseen Dillruba films.

That professional context strengthens the relevance of Taapsee’s comments. Gandhari places a woman at the centre of an action narrative, while the actor has separately discussed the tighter budgets and heavier scrutiny faced by female-led action projects.

Her position is therefore not limited to criticising representation. It also raises the question of which women-led stories receive financing, how they are marketed and whether audiences support them when they become available.

The Celebrity Hour Take

The headline-friendly portion of Taapsee’s answer is also the easiest part to misunderstand. “How else will we earn money?” was not a declaration that objectifying women is acceptable; it was her summary of a commercial defence used within the industry.

The more substantial point is her description of the audience as an active participant in the system. Studios respond to ticket sales, streaming engagement and online attention—not merely to expressions of disapproval.

However, audience responsibility should not become another excuse for the industry to avoid accountability. Producers decide what receives money, directors determine how scenes are filmed, and marketing teams decide which images are promoted. Viewers influence that ecosystem, but they do not control it alone.

Taapsee’s comments matter because they locate the problem across the entire chain: creation, promotion, circulation and consumption.

Sources & Verification

This report was prepared using Taapsee Pannu’s original Zoom Fan Club interview, Netflix’s official information for Gandhari and independently reviewed coverage documenting the complete context of her remarks. The central quote was checked against the surrounding discussion to avoid presenting her description of an industry argument as her personal endorsement.