Tannishta Chatterjee, best known for her intimate portrayal of Nazneen in Brick Road, has been on the festival circuit promoting her new film, Road, Movie, which also stars Abhay Deol. Ranked by many as one of the gems of the year, how successful was its outing at the Tokyo International Film Festival? “The reception of Road, Movie was very good and the Japanese audience wanted to know when the film is releasing in the cinemas there,” she said.
But that’s not the only festival she’s recently attended, nor the only film she’s recently promoted. The actress, who must spend her life living in hotels, was also at the Middle East International Film Festival in Abu Dhabi promoting Bombay Summer. It’s a lyrical film, which unlike Slumdog Millionaire perhaps, attempts to show the best of Mumbai as it focuses on a love triangle between a middle class woman and the two men in her life – one rich and one poor. For Tannishta, making the film was a learning experience. “I know so many of my friends who have grown up as part of the upper middle class, with public school education and really, as Indians, we don’t know our own country at all,” she explained, “But filming in the interior of the country and living in tents, you get to see the real thing.”
Tannishta’s next big project is Bhopal: A Prayer For Rain, an international production based on the Union Carbide tragedy that claimed around 20,000 lives. Also starring Martin Sheen and Mischa Barton, the film is being released on the 25th anniversary of the event. Never one to choose easy subjects, Tannishta will then feature in the crime drama The Sunrise, a film about child prostitution amidst accusations of paedophilia. The film also stars the fascinating Tilotame Shome, whose career mirrors Tannishta’s to some extent, and Adil Hussain.
