“The very important female touch and a Punjab background touch that Kanika gave to Dunki helped us,” says Taapsee Pannu

Dunki actress Taapsee Pannu shares the invaluable contribution of writer Kanika Dhillon that helped her craft her character better. In a recent interview, she sheds light on the collaborative effort taken by them to deliver one of the most entertaining and loved scenes from the film.  

Taapsee Pannu said, “One of the writers on the film is Kanika Dhillon, who hails from Amritsar, who is from that land, jahan pe unko pata tha ko logo ki kis tarah ki struggle hoti hai, or unka apna take on IELTS and how they prepare for it. Coming from Punjab she was a huge help and addition to Dunki, especially crafting a female character, which she has been very good at with the films that she has done with me before – Manmarziyaan, Haseen Dilruba and now Dunki. The very important female touch and a Punjab background touch that she gave to this film helped us also understand like the IELTS scene. Woh mujhe yaad hai humne, Rajusir, Abhijat aur Kanika, we both sat Kanika and me a day before that scene, kyuki woh ek hi dialogue hai but woh itna important aur mazedar ho sakhta hai ya fir bilkul hi bakwaas lag sakhta hai. It can go extreme ways. So how do we make it entertaining pro max? So mujhe yaad hai hum Rajusir ke gharke basement mein baithe the hum chaaro and Kanika was helping me understand ki yeh wala word woh log bol sakhte hai ya iss wale word ka woh replacement hota hai, yeh nahi hota hai. So kaunse words unke bolneka ka dhang or pronunciation kis tarah ka ho sakhta hai, also yeh wala word woh nahi bolenge, iss wale word ke jagah woh yeh bolenge, toh humne ek ek word jo tha uss visa interview ka, woh actually craft kiya tha baithke ki kya-kya ek-ek word hoga, kya-kya buddbuddbudd kaise bolenge, she was really helpful and helping me understand how much of Punjabi, how much of English, and what kind of pronunciation of English words, so that really helped, jamming of all of us together to create that scene that all of us are clearly enjoying.”