3 min readHyderabadFeb 22, 2026 10:23 AM IST Actor Taapsee Pannu has worked in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi and Malayalam cinema. She has been on those sets, done those songs, and navigated those conversations. In a recent interview, she reflected on everything from her middle-class upbringing in Delhi to her latest film Assi. During the conversation with Shubhankar Mishra, she also addressed a topic that is seldom discussed openly: the culture surrounding female bodies on Indian film sets. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW VIDEO When asked about why Bhojpuri and South Indian cinema seem so focused on the navel in song sequences, Pannu answered, “I’m also trying to understand. It’s not that item songs in Hindi cinema don’t focus on it, but it’s not as much as in South Cinema. Hindi cinema is more about cleavage.” Taapsee Pannu went on to recall something more specific, a behind-the-scenes reality that most film conversations skip over entirely. “In the South, they are often asked to wear a padded bra. And the problem is, who does the director even tell on …