In a candid chit-chat with indiaglitz.com, Taapsee Pannu talks about her experience about working for Ganga, success in Bollywood and her unexciting Tollywood stint. Excerpts from the interview.

Are you aware of the physical and mental stress you need to undergo for Ganga when you signed it?

I knew it and that's the reason why initially I did not say Yes' to the project. But after I heard to script, I thought it was so beautiful that I can't say No' to such an interesting role. I keep cribbing and complaining that I don't get challenging and meaty roles but when such an opportunity comes, I shouldn't let it go off. I was not confident enough initially to pull off such a challenging role. Although I never shied away from hard work I was skeptical whether I could do such a defying role. Apart from Lawrence, nobody was sure that I could do something like this. But all credit to Lawrence sir for convincing and instilling confidence in me to pull this role off.

You've been working out a lot for your roles. Do you want to shed your glam doll image?

It was not an effort or a conscious attempt to take up something but whatever I got I took it up and worked towards it. For my Bollywood film Baby, I actually ran and grabbed the role, which was not meant for me. That's because, you have a privilege in Hindi that nobody cares even if you do a 20min role or a two hour role if you do well. If it's good, they'll love and keep you on their head, and that's what exactly happened to me after Baby. Moreover, I was confident that if I do something different and interesting I'll get notice in Hindi. But for South, I didn't know what different I should do because we don't get different scripts and characters here. Most importantly, I'm scared because I'm not a South Indian audience and I don't know what works for them and what doesn't work. For me, as a Hindi audience, I might like to do something very challenging that might not suit South Indian audience. They may not like to see a heroine like that. So I struggled in finding scripts to choose in Telugu. But I'm happy with the decisions I made in the last two years.

How did you decode the success mantra early in Bollywood comparatively to Tamannah and Shruti Haasan?

I don't compare myself to anyone because my career has taken a totally different route. Tamannah and Shruti Haasan have worked in South for enough time before getting into Bollywood. But I got into Hindi, just a couple of years after working in South (Telugu). Also, my way of choosing script was different. I did not start my acting career with a big hero. My focus was on the director and not hero when I chose the script. In fact, all my projects in Hindi so far have been primarily based on who my director is and then I look at my role and the hero. Perhaps, that's why it worked for me in Bollywood. I'm trying to do something similar in South, but I don't know whether it works for me or not.

Why are you going slow in Telugu

I've been the only person giving all the bold statements since the time I've been in Tollywood, saying that I want to do meaty roles. If you look at my roles in Tamil, they have nothing in common. Even my cameo in Vai Raja Vai is unique that you cannot believe that it's the same girl who did the previous four movies. The same holds good in Hindi too, as people who have seen my first two films were surprised. And they'll be even more surprised after seeing my role in runningshaadi.com. The point I'm trying to make is that after doing substantial roles, if you offered something just for the sake of being a heroine, you feel a little dejected. You feel like self thinking “Are you not good enough to do meaty roles”? I don't want to blame anyone else; perhaps, I may have to be more talented to be able to get good projects in Telugu. But it's very sad that I could not sign a Telugu film despite having several Tamil and Hindi movies. I'm unhappy with myself for not doing any Telugu film so far and that's why whenever I get an opportunity I keep telling everyone “Can you please consider me for a Telugu me”? (quips). What more can I do, I've tried to give hits, I've showed my versatility as an actress, so I really don't know now what to do.

Your thoughts on being linked up with your co-stars

I'm a very loving person…what to do (smiles).

Tell us about your rumored boyfriend Mathias Boe. Does he watch your films?

My personal life is only meant for my family and I answer such questions only to them. Regarding my films, I think you should ask him.