Having been part of the entertainment industry for almost two decades now, actor-director Tannishtha Chatterjee has dabbled in various genres and platforms.

Her latest web release, Lihaaf, an adaptation of Ismat Chughtai’s controversial story from 1942, which alludes to a same sex relationship between two women, has already won 11 awards at film festivals.

Elaborating on the relevance of the story even after all these years, Chatterjee says, “We are going in cycles. There was a time when artistes were getting more freedom and pushing boundaries. Now, more than the government, we are censoring ourselves.”

Chatterjee, 40, pins the backlash Chughtai’s story received in 1942 on society’s struggle with acceptance but feels that representation of LGBTQ characters have ‘definitely increased’ in films lately. “With creators, producers, platforms and makers, there’s a silent mandate to be inclusive and include all genders and LGBTQ characters. The more we weave them in as characters of a story, the more normal it will become with society,” she notes.

Her unreleased directorial debut Roam Rome Mein, got positive reviews from international critics and even won her Asian Filmmaker Of The Year at Busan International Film Festival, 2019. Indeed, there was a phase when she was really nervous about the project. She recalls being warned by her casting director when two stern Italian critics turned up to watch the film at the Rome International Film Festival. “She told me that I shouldn’t feel bad if they ripped my film apart. And I thought, they will write in Italian so not many will get to know. But they actually understood my film and I felt really happy and elated,” she signs off.

Actor-director Tannishtha Chatterjee; adds that she wouldn’t like to play “second fiddle” to men
Titas Chowdhury (HINDUSTAN TIMES; December 8, 2019)

With films like Parched (2015), Angry Indian Goddesses (2015) and Lihaaf to her credit, actor-director Tannishtha Chatterjee has carved a niche for herself. She says that though she’s fascinated with playing the quintessential Hindi film heroine, there aren’t enough meaty roles for women in mainstream Hindi films. “I love Alia (Bhatt) and Vidya (Balan)’s work. They’ve done such meaningful roles. Those are the parts that I want to play. But what would I do in a regular Bollywood film where the woman really doesn’t have anything to do?” she asks.

However, she says that there has been a paradigm shift in the world of Hindi cinema over the past few years. “Things are changing now. I’m a trained actor, and I always wanted to do things where I could contribute. There are many actors today who’ve had the opportunities to play fabulous parts in mainstream films as well. Padmaavat (2018) is Deepika’s (Padukone) film. I look forward to stories where women are given roles that are central to the plot and they aren’t second fiddle to the male protagonist,” says the Brick Lane (2007) actor.

What makes Tannishtha happy is “a major gender evolution” that is taking place in our society which is being reflected in the film industry. She elaborates, “Within the film industry, there are a lot of women directors and writers who are coming up and are able to break free and express themselves. The perspective in the way stories are told is different when it’s told by women. For centuries, we’ve appreciated art, storytelling, poetry and music from a male’s point of view. Women performers, writers, painters and creators have been schooled in the male perspective.”

This is why the Gulaab Gang (2014) actor has decided to take the director’s baton in her hands and has helmed a “feminist film” like Roam Rome Mein. She says, “The film, much like art, came out of my personal expression. A story like this isn’t the need of the hour; it has been the need of many centuries. If I go to an art or a film school, I’ll study by the rule book that’s set by great male artistes over centuries. With Roam Rome Mein, I’ve tried to do break the rules set by patriarchy.”

Renuka Vyavahare (BOMBAY TIMES; October 27, 2019)

Actor-turned-director Tannishtha Chatterjee is now the mother of a little girl. She always wanted to adopt a child, and she turned her dream into reality a few months ago. Given the sensitivity of the issue, the actress took her time to speak about it, also hoping that others, who harbour dreams of adopting a child, will be encouraged by her story. In a chat with BT, during which her three-year-old daughter accompanied her, Tannishtha opened up on various issues. She spoke candidly about motherhood as a single woman and why she was clear about bypassing marriage. Excerpts:

Our society often believes that the institution of marriage offers ‘stability and security’ to a woman. While that is subjective, as a single woman, how tough was it to overlook that, follow your heart and dive straight into motherhood?
I am not married, but I have a child now. I tell a lot of my male friends and exes that instead of adopting a guy, I preferred to adopt a child. I have been thinking about adopting since the time I was 16. I was clear from a very young age that I wanted to adopt. When you say these things as a teenager, people tend to dismiss it, saying, ‘Yeh toh sirf aisa bol rahi hai’. At that point, even I thought that I am being very uptight, and it’s about a social cause given that there are so many abandoned kids in our country. As I grew older, the thought of adoption not only stayed with me, but only became firmer. There’s this brilliant Japanese film called Like Father, Like Son (2013). It revolves around a couple who learns that their biological son was switched with another boy at birth. The parents are then faced with the difficult decision of choosing their biological son or the one they raised as their own. While watching the film, I realised that this ‘our child carries our genes’ thing is a very patriarchal idea. You don’t have to give birth to a child to be a mother. Even when you look at our culture, Krishna was raised by Yashoda and not his biological mother, Devaki. Over the years, this thought got affirmed in my head.

How easy or tough was the adoption process as a single woman?
She (daughter) came to me eight months ago. You don’t choose. Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) is a government organisation, and in the last few years, they have streamlined the process. It is not like getting a baby at a shopping mall. You can’t choose. This whole designer baby thing is not fair. Even when you have a biological child, you don’t know how the child is going to turn out. The only thing that you can suggest during adoption is the age bracket and gender of the child that you wish to adopt. I wanted to adopt a child of this age because older children often get left out. Most people prefer babies who are three-six months old as they want a clean slate. I chose that age bracket for a reason. I know so many single moms who have adopted children and CARA is, in fact, supportive of single women. Especially for the girl child, they prefer single women as they feel they are safer with women. I think my process was faster because of that. I jumped the queue and the entire process took about a year.

Is it true that being a part of the film Lion (2017), in which you played a cameo, helped you understand the process of adoption better?
When I was doing that film, I was nowhere close to realistically doing this thing. Director Garth Davis and Deepti Naval were doing research on this subject for her role in the film, and she shared many things related to it with me. We went to an orphanage in Kolkata during that film. I realised foreigners adopted a lot of older kids. Indian couples prefer adopting very young children. When I was shooting for Parched (2015), I went to an orphanage in Bhuj and I started sponsoring two kids there. All these things happened. That’s when I got to know the process and how one needs to go about it.

What was your parents’ reaction to this decision of yours?
Obviously, they had a few questions. Marriage was one; also, they told me that having a child is not a child’s play. They told me to think it over as it’s a lifelong commitment. My mother warned me and told me that I have always lived a teenager’s life and I haven’t taken responsibilities of raising a family, so this should not be something that I was temporarily excited about. They were apprehensive, but when I was sure about wanting to do this, they were supportive. It’s been eight months now, and it’s been a beautiful journey. Whoever is thinking of doing this, should just do it. I wasn’t sure if I should talk about it or not. On the one hand, it’s a very personal decision, so I didn’t want to make news out of it. I didn’t post anything about it on social media either. On the other hand, I want to reach out to those who want to do this and are privileged enough to take care of a child. I read a report in The Times of India a while ago, about couples who are opting not to have children owing to rising population and other crisis. I want to tell them, just adopt. A lot of them don’t want kids at all. Of course, that’s their choice and they are entitled to it, but I want them to just think once about adoption. Surrogacy, IVF —people do so many things to have their biological children. Give adoption a thought, too.

Your daughter is a little over three years. Do you think of talking to her about where she has come from, how you brought her home…and things like that?
She understands Bengali now and is really sharp. Now that she goes to an English school, she understands English as well, so I avoid using certain words in front of her. I spell the word adopt in front of her instead of saying it. Some orphanages believe that the children should know, so she knows that she has come from another place. That’s all she knows. She thinks I am the new mom as I picked her from the place where her biological parents dropped her off. Slowly that memory has faded. Now, she believes that I am the one who dropped her at that place, and I am the one who picked her up as well. As she grows older, she will start making sense of it on her own. It will never be a shock or a surprise for her. Another beautiful thing is that she has never asked me about her Dad. In the park one day, a little boy asked her why she doesn’t have a dad. She told him, “But you don’t have daadi and dada. I have them and mom.” These days, kids are so mature and adaptable. Their emotional maturity is amazing. As adults, we underestimate them.

The world is getting cynical. This step that you have taken makes it hopeful, isn’t it? To give a better life to someone…
A lot of people thought that I was being pessimistic for not wanting to give birth to children in this world. Environmentally, we are a disaster. Be it war or climate crisis, look at what we have done to our planet. Greta Thunberg (16-year-old Swedish teenage environmental activist) is speaking for all of us. Food is adulterated, oxygen is depleting. What are we leaving for our future generation? Why not help those who already exist? All of these things posed many questions. We are destroying the planet and there is no value for human life. Survival is the biggest challenge. A child brings so much love and beauty to your life. You can give the child a nice home. My child has adopted me and not the other way around; it was so organic.

There are challenges of raising a child as a single mom, especially when you are working in an industry that is so demanding and fast-paced, right?
I don’t want to compete with men, and I don’t want to be a man. I want to celebrate my femininity. But equality also means that I don’t need to be taken care of. I am an adult and I make my choices and live my life according to what suits my interests. Also, yes, your life does change after a child comes into your life. I can have friends over after she goes to sleep, but I rarely go out now and it’s all worth it.

Tannishtha Chatterjee's second directorial, a romcom, tackles environmental issues in a city
Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 19, 2018)

Even before the release of her directorial debut, Roam Rome Mein, a love story featuring Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Velentina Corti, Tannishtha Chatterjee is ready with her second script, Dhoka Cola. A romcom on the face of it, Tannishtha is quick to add that it has an underlying layer of social commentary woven into the screenplay. “We need to tell stories which are progressive, break social stereotypes through mass or pop culture. My film speaks about the environmental issues in the city. If we can’t breathe fresh air or eat fresh food, what’s the use of development?” argues the writer-director-actress, saying people living in the metros would be able to relate to the story easily, since they are victims of deforestation.

The film was shortlisted by the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (ASPA), an academy film fund that supports feature films at the script stage. It was in the list of 15 films drown from across the globe and Tannishtha is proud of the achievement. “It’s an assurance that my content is strong,” she beams.

This year has seen several content-driven films rather than star-driven films work their magic on the audience and that she believes is an encouraging sign. “It is good that different kind of stories are working in today’s time,” asserts the filmmaker who is currently busy finalising the script and cast while simultaneously working on the post production of Roam Rome Mein. 

The actress, who traded her Yari Road apartment for a bigger place last year, is finally moving into her dream home
Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 3, 2017)


Last year, during Durga Puja, Tannishtha Chatterjee bought a two-bedroom apartment in Mumbai. Her parents were in town and on the auspicious day of Saptami, she got the flat registered in her name and the civil work started. She brought in the New Year by hosting a housewarming party at her new pad for a few friends and her sister who was in town. Today, the acclaimed actress is delighted that she wakes up to the chatter of parrots roosting on the trees outside her bedroom and goes to sleep watching the moonlight filter in through the curtains.

She had bought an apartment in the Yari Road area years ago and since returning to the city after a five-year stay in UK, she’s wanted to upgrade to a bigger place. But all the travelling she was doing left her with little time to go house-hunting. When she finally got into the act, it took her nine months to land this place which was in the same area, with every window and balcony offering a view of the mangroves.

It wasn’t in a very good condition as the owner lived in Delhi. “But when she looked around, she saw the possibilities and loved the old marble flooring in particular. “I’m not a 20th floor skyscraper girl. I don’t want to look down on the city, I want to be close to the ground and I don’t want to look into people’s homes or have anyone looking into mine. This one is on the fourth floor and perfect for one person. There are no buildings around, only trees. I can be myself,” she exults.

Tannishtha hasn’t got started on the furnishing yet. She’s hoping to pick up some old-world furniture from exhibitions in Delhi and some beautiful pottery. “I love green tea and want to offer my guests a choice of teas in really nice cups,” she says dreamily.

For the walls she is getting original Abanindranath Tagore and Jamini Roy paintings that she picked up from Santiniketan, framed. She’s looking for some pretty curtains and lamps too because “lighting adds character to a home”. And she has brought along the two chairs which have been with her since the last 15 years. “I got them when I got my own room up on the terrace of our Delhi home. They are from the cottage industry and have been travelling with me ever since,” she smiles fondly looking at them.

She goes on to reveal that at one point she had toyed with the idea of moving to Goa because she could not find the perfect home in concrete Mumbai. Now, she is happy with the one she has, but some day, she wants to also buy a house, 100 km from the city, where she would have her own garden and a huge bathroom. “I’ve lived in the best of hotels around the world, but none of them had a bathroom like my friend’s. It’s big and beautiful and some day I want one like that too. But till them I am happy with the two loos I have here,” she signs off with a laugh.

Renuka Vyavahare (BOMBAY TIMES; September 30, 2016)

Tannishtha Chatterjee responds to an apology issued by Colors TV in the wake of the backlash that followed her walking out of a comedy show
MUMBAI MIRROR (September 29, 2016)\

After she stormed out of a taping of Comedy Nights Bachao Tazaa when the show’s cast let loose a barrage of distasteful jokes about her skin tone on Tuesday afternoon, actress Tannishtha Chatterjee, in an interview (Mirror, September 28) lashed out at the “white hangover” she was subjected to. She followed it up with a Facebook post detailing her ordeal. And while the channel, Colors, swerved into damage control mode with an apology in the wake of the backlash that ensued, show host Krushna Abhishek maintains that the actress is “going overboard for publicity.”

When Mirror contacted Tannishtha a second time on Wednesday, she chose to respond to the channel with this letter:

“Thanks for your letter but you don’t need to apologise to me. This is not about offending me but about propagating a deeply prejudiced mindset. I wish the show had actually ‘roasted’ me. I think this incident makes way for a much bigger debate -- about what popular culture propagates and the responsibilities that people who are at the forefront of that culture need to shoulder. I am glad that your channel has shows that address social prejudices. I expect the same from your comedies. I expect that the people who create the content and the comedians who work with that content go back to the basics of what satire or ‘vyang’ actually means, raise the bar, and make it funny while keeping social prejudices out of it. Understand the nuances of humour – the literary aspects as well as the period in history when they came into being. Try and find humour on those lines. We all want comedies and we all want to be offended but hurting someone’s sentiments is different from reinforcing social injustices. I’m sure you understand what I’m trying to say. I hope, in the future, it’s not about me but the fact that none of these ideas or line of thoughts should get room to thrive.
This is not personal.
Thank you.”

Tannishtha Chatterjee storms out of a comedy show after jibes about her complexion
Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 28, 2016)

At 22, Tannishtha Chatterjee’s performance in the 2004 German film, Shadows of Time, put her on a 13-year journey exploring world cinema. Last week, Leena Yadav’s Parched opened in India. Tannishtha went on Comedy Nights Bachao Tazaa on Tuesday as part of the film’s promotions and was appalled by repeated jibes about her complexion. She was described as a “kaali kalooti” and asked if she has been eating jamun (blackberries) since childhood as a result of which “mooh kala hai”. The show is hosted by popular stand-up comedians, Krushna Abhishek, Mona Singh, Ssumier Pasricha, Bharti Singh, Nia Sharma and Sumeet Vyas, who usually manage to raise a laugh with insults but this time they crossed the line. “I had been led to believe that it was going to be a ‘Roast’. In the West they cheer your achievements by making fun of them and I was excited about being ‘roasted’ on a comedy show on a leading national channel,” says the actress, adding that she had been promised that it wouldn’t be as “extreme as in the West”.

Two segments into the show, a shocked Tannishtha walked out, admitting that when she repeated some of the comments, her sister from New York who's currently in Mumbai couldn’t believe her ears. “She questioned the regressive script, the show runners and the audacity of the channel to propagate such racism,” says the actress.

Tannishtha points out that she doesn’t have a ‘white’ hangover and has been to every A-list festival in the world and never felt humiliated. “Even today this is not about me being offended but because a burning issue is being promoted through such shows. It’s as bad as making a joke about a marginalised community. That is not the spirit of Parched or the face of a woman who believes dark is beautiful,” she asserts.

After the first segment, the 35-year-old actress thought the jokes would move from her skin tone to her performances, films and personal life like any insult-comedies, but when the next segment continued to be peppered with “kaali kalooti, baingan looti”, she told her publicist she wanted to leave immediately.

She also made it clear that she did not want to be featured on the episode or be associated with the channel in any manner since no apology was forthcoming. “They did not understand why I was angry and told me that if I was offended by any particular dialogue, they would edit it out and mock something else about my features. When I refused to continue, the best they could come up with was, ‘Madam exit toh shoot kar lo!’”

Tannishtha's part in Sarah Gavron’s British film Brick Lane brought her global acclaim while she was nominated for the British Independent Film Awards alongside stalwarts like Dame Judi Dench and Hollywood actress Anne Hathaway for her contribution to cinema. Referred to by international media as the “India’s Princess of Parallel Cinema”, she sang at London’s Royal Opera House with British composer Jocelyn Pook. In March, she won a special award at BAFTA for her cinematic work. Has she ever felt discriminated against before? She admits that while getting her make-up done in India, she’s often told, “Ek tone light kar lo, it’s a city girl, had your character been a villager it'd be okay."

“Racism is rampant in the Indian film industry and being propagated through films and such crass shows. Once I was asked that since my surname is Chatterjee, I must be a Brahmin, so why wasn’t I faircomplexioned,” she fumes, pointing out that while Indians rave about how “exotic” foreigners find them, they themselves look down on a dark complexion. “Africans are proud of their skin colour, but look at how we treat them in India. We are misguided by a deep-rooted casteism,” she signs off.

MUMBAI MIRROR (August 17, 2016)

Renuka Vyavahare (BOMBAY TIMES; August 17, 2016)

A new character was conceived for Tannishtha in the adaptation of A Long Way Home
Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 10, 2016)




Ten years ago, Tannishtha Chatterjee made her international debut in Oscar-winning German director Florian Gallenberger's film, Shadows Of Time. It was to screen at the Berlin Film Festival and Tannishtha was staying at the most expensive hotel in the city. "That was the first time I walked the red carpet in one of my mom's saris. The festival director handed me a glass of champagne and introduced me to Keanu Reeves. That was the only time I felt like a celebrity," reminisces the actress who has just wrapped up Garth Davis's Hollywood film, Lion, for which she filmed with Slumdog Millionnaire actor Dev Patel and Nawazuddin Siddiqui in Kolkata at the end of 2015.

Based on the book, A Long Way Home, the film also features Nicole Kidman and Rooney Mara as Dev's adoptive parents. They were to shoot in Kolkata for a day, but eventually their sequences were filmed in New Zealand and Australia. "Dev is great to hang out with and a fabulous actor," says Tannishtha, whose role was not there in the original novel. "Garth over an email offered me the role of Dev's Indian biological mother which I didn't want to play. He realised that and we never spoke about that role again. But two weeks later, he told me that he'd written a part for me which I loved. She's a local woman in Kolkata whom Dev meets."

In her decade-long career, Tannishtha acknowledges that she's been typecast a lot because of her race and colour. "I have fought at every point to not let my physical attributes be the reason to get a role, but that's how global cinema is driven. My image has imprinted into who I am, It is difficult to break that," she sighs.

Today, Tannishtha is at the London Indian Film Festival where she is being presented with a special BAFTA Honour, Tongues on Fire, for her Contribution to Asian Cinema. The earlier recipients have been Shyam Benegal, Shabana Azmi, Jaya Bachchan, Mira Nair and Nandita Das, amongst others. This will be preceded by a week-long screening of her recent films, Angry Indian Goddesses and Chauranga, and her yet-to-be-released British drama, Feast Of Varanasi, in which she plays a tough cop, Guneet Monga's Monsoon Shootout alongside Nawaz and UnIndian, cricketer Brett Lee's acting debut.

"On the closing night, I'll get my award after Naseer sir's (Naseeruddin Shah) film, Waiting, plays. I once studied under him at the National School of Drama, hoping to be an actress," she smiles.

Ankur Pathak (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 3, 2014)

Other than her acting prowess, Tannishtha Chatterjee is perhaps best known for her eclectic choice of films, from Dev Benegal's Abhay Deol-starrer Road, Movie and the award-winning British film, Brick Lane to this year's social drama, Gulaab Gang. Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain, a retelling of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy in which she plays an underprivileged woman who is a victim too, opens this Friday.

Speaking from Sydney, where she's filming a rom-com with cricketer-turned-actor Brett Lee, the actress says that her choice of films is a reflection of her distaste for mainstream Hindi films.

"I choose parallel cinema because unlike Bollywood, the roles for women are not reductive. Bollywood exploits women. They are reduced to being wives, girlfriends and 'item girls'," she says. "I'm surprised how the term 'item' itself has become acceptable."

She is quick to add that actors like Vidya Balan and Deepika Padukone are slowly changing that perception. "Even in a film like Chennai Express, Deepika had such a crackling part. But it's a long way to go for us," she sighs.

For Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain, part of the preparatory work included meeting the real victims of the tragedy. "It was extremely difficult. Some of those we met weren't even born during the leak, but have disabilities due to the toxic gas. The film takes a critical look at how corporates easily compromise on security to make money," she asserts.

In direct contrast to that is her Australian film with Brett Lee - Unindian. The actress is having a great time discovering an actor in the fast-bowler. "I don't follow the game as I am not a cricket fan. But Lee is lovely! He's so chilled out. And we are having a lot of fun shooting as the film revels in a reverse-cliche of sorts. It's about a woman with a high-flying job rescuing a down-and-out guy. It's a funny and a colorful film," she says excitedly.

Also in the pipeline are more indie-dramas, including Leena Yadav's Parched and a futuristic drama, Island City, financed by NFDC, which will be the directorial debut of Ruchika Oberoi. "It's a great feeling to be able to play such different parts and travel across the globe with all these films. It's wonderful to be in the movies!" she exults.