Almost every Bollywood actor harbours the dream of working with Shah Rukh Khan. For Taapsee Pannu, who shares screen space with the superstar for the first time on Dunki, the experience has been more fulfilling than she had imagined. Her biggest takeaway—she deeply admires Khan’s ability to offer a level-playing field to his leading ladies. “We are lucky to have a superstar like Shah Rukh Khan, who values female presence in a film. The one common thing that actresses [in his movies] have is their agency. No one else will make decisions for a female character. Her decision might be out of line from what she is expected to do, but be it right or wrong, it is hers to make. In Dunki, [my character] has agency and power,” states Pannu.