Tuning in to Tannishtha

She’s referred to as the ‘princess of parallel cinema’ and the ‘most international of Indian actresses’. Tannishtha Chatterjee has been nominated for Best Actress alongside Dame Judi Dench and Anne Hathaway in the British Independent Film Awards, and her most recent acting collaborations include working with Martin Sheen and first-time actress turned filmmaker, Lucy Liu. Following in the footsteps of Shabana Azmi and Aparna Sen, Tannishtha Chaterjee is in the Gold Coast this week for the 4th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA), and is one of the youngest members of the international jury. Link caught up with the actress for a quick chat.

Tannishtha lived in Australia as a child but doesn’t remember a lot of it. Yet she finds herself smitten by the Gold Coast’s sun and sand. The versatile actress feels that Australians are a bit ‘Indian-like’ with their generosity and hospitality. She is thrilled to represent India at APSA where the jury this year comprises of members from China, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, the United Kingdom and Australia. International cinema and film festivals largely tend to have an American and Eurocentric focus, and hence they are limited in terms of story telling and aesthetic appeal.

“APSA has crossed my expectations in providing a long awaited platform for the Asia Pacific region. Watching films of different languages and styles from 15 different countries has been a blissful experience for me,” admits Tannishtha.

Despite the jury being so diverse in their expertise and viewpoints, she has observed that human beings respond to emotions and stories similarly. “This is where, though different culturally and cinematographically, good cinema transcends culture and speaks the universal language of human emotions,” she explains.

through, where despite a strong presence of Hollywood, regional cinema is finding a much-needed revival,” claims the actress. She makes a very compelling case for India to maintain its own cinematic medium and style. “I believe film festivals such as APSA should be encouraged so that countries such as ours can keep their plethora of languages and cultures alive,” she avers.

“I am passionate about initiatives likes APSA that preserve diversity, and I believe that there lies the true beauty of cinema,” says Tannishtha. This year India has five nominations, each unique and compelling in their language, culture and performance.

Atul Kulkarni and Tejaswini Pundit have been nominated in the best performance categories for two separate Marathi films, and Hindi film Udaan has been nominated in the Best Children’s Feature Film category. A majority of the nominations

Tannishtha is open to all kinds of cinema; however it is the characters in the scripts and the filmmakers that are the driving force for her. “It is extremely important for me to choose working on projects where actors and filmmakers involved share my energy and passion for good cinema,” she says. The actress finds herself frequently working with first-time directors who take a brave step and go after their films with full steam and focus. “This is what gives cinema a new perspective and makes people all over the world sit up and listen,” explains Tannishtha. “Bollywood, despite being stereotyped as nothing but songs and dances, in essence is very original and has its roots in the larger-than-life Indian drama, theatre and folklore,” she says adding, “Despite the presence of American cinemas and their popularity with the Indian elite, a very interesting movement is taking shape in India where independent cinema is rising, putting regional cinema into the spotlight.” Tannishtha believes this is very vital for India’s film industry as a lot of great internationally renowned filmmakers from Satyajit Ray to Tapan Sinha and Mrinal Sen all have their background in regional cinema.

Tannishtha calls herself a cinema buff and is having a fantastic time in the Gold Coast watching some amazing movies, meeting inspiring members of APSA and enjoying delicacies from around the world. However, the actress is aware of the responsibility that comes with being in the jury and assessing cinema and its various forms. “Regardless of the jury members and their different areas of expertise, so far we have all had similar reactions and no conflict in viewpoints; this is good cinema, striking a chord across the board, which is termed as ‘cross-over’ cinema,” she says. APSA awarding such films and celebrating their achievements inspires Tannishtha to continue on her path of representing India’s talent internationally in acting and filmmaking.

Tannishtha is a trained Hindustani vocalist and has sung for movies such as Page 3 and Road, Movie. Her first film Swaraj won her the National Film Award, and her resume boasts names of highly acclaimed Indian and International filmmakers. Tannishtha Chatterjee is supportive of young Indian talent, and is bent on creating and educating the whole world about a new kind of breakthrough Indian cinema. Indian Link wishes this young Bengali beauty all the best in exciting years to come. We will be following her career with interest and pride.

The Asia Pacific Screen Awards is the region’s answer to the Oscars of the west, and honours filmmaking projects across a region covering 70 countries, which makes up one third of the earth and half the world’s film output. APSA will take place on Australia’s Gold Coast on December 2, and is an initiative of the Queensland Government in collaboration with the MFA and UNESCO.