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On a solid footing
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Tannishtha Chatterjee, who is in the news for the controversial "Brick Lane", talks about her role and more
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The whole controversy is unnecessary. It hasn't really affected the film anyway
PHOTO: V.V. KRISHNAN
MEATY ROLES Tannishtha Chatterjee
Her search for meaty roles got her three international assignments. And that includes the controversial Brick Lane where she essays the role of a 17-year-old Bangladeshi immigrant who grows up to be all of 35 by the time the film ends. She also won the Best Actress Award at the recent OSEAN film festival for her performance in the Bengali film, Bibar, directed by Shubroto Sen. She gave a good performance in the recently released Strings - Bounded by Faith. In this film directed by Sanjay Jha and shot in the Kumbh Mela at Nasik, she played a traditionally-rooted girl with modern thoughts and was paired opposite Adam Bedi, Kabir Bedi's son.
Yes, one is talking about Tannishtha Chatterjee, an NSD graduate, who is now in news for Brick Lane, based on Monica Ali's book by the same name — a film which has raised a furore among Bangladeshi immigrants. Reflects this 28-year-old dusky beauty, "The whole controversy is unnecessary. I asked several young protestors what the outcry was all about. Many pleaded ignorance, and said they had heard it was anti-Bangladeshi! But it hasn't really affected the film anyway."
Though 30 per cent of the shooting was already done at London's Brick Lane, she says because of the uproar the location had to be shifted to Chapel Street. "We wanted to re-shoot the scenes but, for now, the film is complete," she says, adding that she shot the whole film with a broken ligament. She had hurt her foot barely a week before the shooting commenced.
Rejected
For Sarah Gabaron, director of Brick Lane, the film which also addresses the issue of identity crisis of British Muslims, is only her second venture. She auditioned some of the better-known Indian actresses from Hindi filmdom apart from other aspirants. And interestingly, she rejected Tannishtha initially!
Says the actor, "I think I was initially rejected because of my face. But eventually I got selected. Maybe because I performed through my eyes." Her appeal, indeed, lies in her highly expressive, sparkling eyes.
Beginning with Swaraaj in 2002, Tannishtha already seems to have come full circle as she has gained a lot of international exposure through the above-mentioned films. Her second film was a Bollywood flick, Divorce with Jackie Shroff released in 2004 followed by a German film Shadows of Time. This film is directed by Florian Galbanberger who won an Oscar for his maiden Queraser. It was dubbed into English, Bengali and Hindi. Shot in Kolkata, this film that was also an official entry at recent film festivals in Toronto, apart from major festivals in Europe and won the Best Film Award at Brussels, is likely to release in India shortly.
Next in her kitty is another Bollywood flick, Kasturi, which is "a film about women's emancipation and education."
SURESH KOHLI
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