Actor-director Tannishtha Chatterjee, best known for her performances in Dekh Indian Circus (2011), Gulaab Gang (2013), and Angry Indian Goddesses (2015), is embracing a stage comeback with Breast of Luck after a decade amid severe health challenges.

The 45-year-old says, “I have been grappling with severe nerve damage in my left arm, sustained on the side of my surgery after a radiation session. This has resulted in restricted movement and excruciating pain, and I have been on painkillers.”

She adds, “According to my physiotherapist, what will work best is exercising in the swimming pool, but it will only be possible once the weather is better.”

Despite her mother’s insistence that she rest, Tannishtha chose to dive back into work: “The last time I was on stage was somewhere in 2014-15 at NCPA... I wanted to resume work.”

She is working on her upcoming musical, which she co-wrote with actor Sharib Hashmi. “I have to constantly be cautious with my arm. Even my co-actors have to be careful because if some one hurts my arm even a little bit, it’s definite that I will scream. But I had to get back to work to keep my mind sane and forget all about my ill health.”

Diagnosed with stage-4 oligometastatic cancer in January last year, her chemotherapy ended in mid-2025, she is still on the path to recovery. “At the end of the month, I will be back at the hospital for a 21-day cycle of target therapy, infusion, and all,” she says.