Taapsee Pannu (born 1 August 1987) is an Indian actor and producer who works mainly in Hindi films after beginning her career in Telugu and Tamil cinema. A computer science engineer from Delhi with no family ties to the film industry, she became one of the leading performers of her generation through films built around their female characters, among them Pink, Badla and Thappad. She has won two Filmfare Awards.
Quick Facts
| Full name | Taapsee Pannu |
| Born | 1 August 1987, New Delhi, India |
| Age | 39 |
| Occupation | Actor, film producer |
| Years active | 2010–present |
| Known for | Pink, Badla, Thappad, Haseen Dillruba |
| Education | Guru Tegh Bahadur Institute of Technology, Delhi (B.Tech., Computer Science) |
| Spouse | Mathias Boe (m. 2024) |
| Awards | Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress (2020); Filmfare Award for Best Actress (2021) |
Early Life
Taapsee Pannu was born into a Sikh family in New Delhi, the elder daughter of Dilmohan Singh Pannu and Nirmaljeet Pannu. She has a younger sister, Shagun. She went to Mata Jai Kaur Public School in Ashok Vihar and studied computer science engineering at the Guru Tegh Bahadur Institute of Technology. She trained in Kathak and Bharatanatyam for several years as a child. After graduating she worked briefly as a software engineer, and she has said she had also cleared the entrance test for an MBA. Modelling began as a way to earn pocket money: she appeared on the Channel V talent show Get Gorgeous in 2008, took part in the Femina Miss India contest the same year and then did a string of print and television advertisements.
Career
Her first film was the Telugu musical Jhummandi Naadam (2010), directed by K. Raghavendra Rao. The next year she made her Tamil debut opposite Dhanush in Vetrimaaran’s Aadukalam, which won six National Film Awards. Over the next few years she acted in more than a dozen Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam films, including Mr. Perfect with Prabhas and Arrambam.
She entered Hindi films with David Dhawan’s comedy Chashme Baddoor (2013) and drew attention in a short but striking part as an undercover agent in Baby (2015). The turning point was Pink (2016), a courtroom drama with Amitabh Bachchan in which she played a young woman who files a molestation case against a politically connected man. The film started a public conversation about consent and made her a sought-after lead.
She followed it with Naam Shabana, the hit comedy Judwaa 2, Mulk and Manmarziyaan. In 2019 she had four releases: the thriller Badla, again with Bachchan, the Tamil–Telugu film Game Over, the space drama Mission Mangal and Saand Ki Aankh, in which she played the octogenarian sharpshooter Prakashi Tomar and shared the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress. Anubhav Sinha’s Thappad (2020), about a woman who leaves her marriage after her husband slaps her at a party, won her the Filmfare Award for Best Actress.
Her later films include Haseen Dillruba (2021) and its 2024 sequel, Rashmi Rocket, Looop Lapeta, Shabaash Mithu, in which she played the cricketer Mithali Raj, and Dobaaraa. In 2021 she started a production company, Outsiders Films, whose first release was the thriller Blurr. She starred opposite Shah Rukh Khan in Rajkumar Hirani’s Dunki (2023) and appeared in the ensemble comedy Khel Khel Mein (2024).
Personal Life
After a relationship of about ten years she married Mathias Boe, a Danish badminton player and Olympic silver medallist who later coached India’s men’s doubles players, in a private ceremony in Udaipur in March 2024. With her sister she runs a wedding planning company, The Wedding Factory, and she has owned a team in the Premier Badminton League. She is known for speaking plainly about pay gaps and about how outsiders are treated in the film industry.
Awards
Selected Filmography
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where was Taapsee Pannu born?
Taapsee Pannu was born on 1 August 1987 in New Delhi, India and is 39 years old.
What is Taapsee Pannu known for?
Known for: Pink, Badla, Thappad, Haseen Dillruba.
What honours has Taapsee Pannu received?
Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress (2020); Filmfare Award for Best Actress (2021).
Featured image: Taapsee Pannu on the green carpet at the IIFA Awards, MetLife Stadium, New Jersey, July 2017. Photo by Laura Lee Dooley, licensed under CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
