With name, fame and expectations to deliver, Taapsee Pannu has also gained the confidence that she won't be subjected to audiences' "abuses" over her choice of films.
With four Hindi releases -- "Dil Junglee", "Soorma", "Mulk" and "Manmarziyaan" -- and a Telugu film "Neevevaro", 2018 saw a lot of the actor -- but in all different shades.
Pannu believes last year was "crucial" as it made her trust her instincts even more.
"It is the confidence that I have gained over the years. With certain films, you know that they won't hurl abuses at me. With most of my films, I have that much of confidence. They may do lesser numbers than what we expect or people would talk. But they will appreciate the effort.
"2018 was a very pivotal year for me about having confidence in my choices, which now I have. I know my path is such that till the time I'm surprising my audience, they are going to love me. The day I start becoming predictable, it will be my downfall. So I'm walking that path," the actor told PTI in an interview here.
Pannu said taking up different roles in back-to-back films was a conscious effort.
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"I wanted to make sure that I do a lot of films because then I will have the fear of repeating myself. It was a planned decision of taking up different films every year," she added.
The actor said, this year too, she will follow a similar trajectory.
Her first release is mystery thriller, "Badla", in which she reunites with her "Pink" co-star Amitabh Bachchan in yet another lawyer-client narrative at its centre.
The film is an official remake of the 2016 Spanish film "Contratiempo" ("The Invisible Guest") and is co-produced by Red Chillies Entertainment and Azure Entertainment.
Indian audiences have not been very receptive to the remakes of international mystery thrillers but Pannu said same story feels new when made for a different audience.
"Especially, when a big change like gender reversal is part of the script, it changes a lot of things," she added.
The actor plays murder accused Naina Sethi, the role which was originally essayed by Spanish actor Mario Casas. Bachchan will be seen as the defence counsel Badal Gupta, a part played by Blanca Martinez.
Pannu revealed she that she watched the film in one go and knew she wanted to work in the Sujoy Ghosh directorial but with a caveat.
"I told Sujoy 'I wanted to do that character and not the one that you asked me to do'. It was kind enough of the producer to agree to swap the gender," she said.
The actor said as the film was already so "brilliant", the director took his sweet time trying to better the story for the Indian audiences.
"He said he needed time and that's the excuse he gives for saying no to me initially before coming on board. As an actor, I was very excited to do this role, but as a director, he won't copy-paste the story."