Tannishtha Chatterjee who is often referred by the Indian media as the Princess of Parallel Cinema is known for her power packed performances and has won many awards for her work. Tannishtha talks about her experiences about her working on the film Parched with Shaheen Raaj.
How did Parched happened to you?
Well! Actually Leena and I we were like good friends. We were thinking of doing something together. One day I was sitting with her having dinner and I told her a story which is the character I actually played in the film whom I had met during Dev Benegal’s film and she liked the story and she was like you take me to this whole region and I took her there where she met all the other women and then she wrote fast. That’s how it started.
Tell us about the character you portrayed in the movie?
I play Rani a 32 year old woman who is a widow. She became a widow when she was like 15 or 16 year old and it’s been many years since she has not had a man in her life. Her son is getting married now. So she has lived a very sought of strict life in terms of her desires & sexuality you know. That sought of a life. That’s where the story starts and then what happens to this character is something that you will see in the film.
You have been a part of a lots of film festivals. This is not the first time. Why not commercial Cinema?
Ask the commercial film directors this question. I want to do it. If there is a good role for me I am absolutely open to it.
Do you feel film festivals are a medium to push or celebrate this kind of cinema to tell the story you want to tell?
Absolutely I think that all kinds of films need some kind of validation. This kind of cinema which is you know arthouse or film festival type will definitely give a validation big well known film festivals. So yes they are a platform.
The film has been beautifully embraced by the people around the world and received several awards. What do you feel about it?
It’s fantastic and now I think like we are really excited to show it to the people about whom the film is. Set in India it is about India it is made with Indian actors & Indian director. Yaa we are very happy with all the validations that we have got across the globe. But I think the biggest validation that we can get is from our own country. We are very excited to show it to the Indian audience now.
Is there any dream role that you are waiting for?
Every role is a dream role and every next role is a dream role. I think there are so many media guys who ask this question many times. I think there are so many things that I want to do. There is not just one dream role. One dream role means that I want to get it over as an actor. I don’t like to think like that. I like to believe that there are many many things that I would like to do.
You have worked with several National & International directors. How was your experience so far?
I think Parched was very unique because Leena and I chucked the idea together as it was a story and idea that came from me. Then slowly Leena started writing and it became a film which is a collaborative process. It’s a very special experience because Leena allowed a lot of inputs from the actors then we improvised and explored a lot of things about all our characters.
One thing you want the people to take back home once they leave the theatre?
I think it’s something that it’s not one thing that’s why the film is about women & sexuality; desires & female bonding. There are many Issues that revolve around women. The film sort of talks about all those things through the different stories and I think that’s what everyone who comes to watch the film should take home, you know from the theatre. And one thing that star producer Ajay Devgan says that every man should watch the film.
How did you prepare for your character? Did you go through any research?
Like I said it was a very organic process because Rani’s story was a story which stayed with me for a very long time. I had met her even before Leena wrote the film and her eyes stayed with me and in the process of writing you know the every draft that Leena wrote we used to read & share notes . I don’t even know when I prepared. It was sort of becoming the character and of course in terms of the dialects & costumes and all those external things when we went to Kutch and there was Nain Rana who was a specialist of the dialect who incorporated a flavour of Kutchi dialect in our dialogues.
Do you feel the presence of cinematographer Russell Carpenter? Did it make a difference to the film?
Yes absolutely because he was like a dream cinematographer to work with as his presence was almost invisible. That is the most beautiful thing that a cinematographer can ever do. He never told us that this is your frame, you can move only this much and that’s all you can do. It’s like an actor dreams to work with such cinematographers where they don’t restrict you at all and they let you do whatever you want to do as a character and Russell was just capturing those moments. So it was a very beautiful experience.
