Director Neeraj Pandey felt I could never do 'Baby': Taapsee Pannu

Mumbai: 'Chashme Baddoor' actress Taapsee Pannu reveals that she had to convince director Neeraj Pandey to consider her for a role in his upcoming film 'Baby'. Tapsee, who plays an undercover agent in the multi-starrer film, said her director initially thought she was too shy to play the part. "Neeraj sir never thought I can do this. Initially he thought I am too coy to play this role. But then I followed the process and went to him after meeting his casting director.

"I had to first convince him that I am not at all a coy girl in my real life. Before that he only saw me in 'Chashme Baddoor'. Somehow he got convinced about me," she said. The 27-year-old actress, a known name in the South film industry, said 'Baby' was the first film in her career which she had to chase. "This is the first movie in my career, which I have chased. By the grace of God, I have got whatever I wanted in my lap. I am the lucky one to extract my character of choice from him (Neeraj)," Tapsee said.

Her character in the film is shown as trained in self-defense system Krav Maga and she is happy that she could make use of the tough side of her personality for the role. "I have a rough side to my personality. I am not a conventional coy girl. For a very long time I was the boy in the family. I have never played with dolls. I have played on the railway tracks. I still remember I used to come to house with mud in my body," she said.

In the film, Tapsee shares screen space with Akshay Kumar and calls him a 'deceptive' co-star. "I think he is the most deceptive co-star if you don't know him off screen. Because on-and-off camera he is completely a different. Off-screen he is very calm, focused and relaxed. On-screen he has this superb energy to perform. "My take away from Akshay Kumar is you should never forget from where you have come and after work where you have to go...," she said.

'Baby' releases on January 23.