Tannishtha Chatterjee
Chatterjee at the premiere
of The Forest on 11 May 2012
Born
NationalityIndian
Alma materNational School of Drama
OccupationFilm actress
Years active2003–present

Tannishtha Chatterjee is an Indian actress and director who is known for her work in several Hindi and English independent films. For her performance in the film Dekh Indian Circus, she won the National Film Award – Special Jury Award / Special Mention (Feature Film). In 2019 she directed her first feature film Roam Rome Mein which screened at Toronto International Film Festival. Chatterjee's performance in the German film Shadows of Time earned her critical acclaim. It took her to international film festivals, including the Toronto International Film Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival.

She is also known in the west for her performance in the British film Brick Lane (2007), the film adaptation of Monica Ali's best selling novel of the same name[1] for which she was nominated best actress at the British Independent Film Awards.[2] Her other notable roles have been in Academy Award-winning German director Florian Gallenberger's film Shadows of Time, Road, Movie with Abhay Deol, Dekh Indian Circus, and Marathi film Doctor Rakhmabai for which she has won the Best Actress Award at RIFF (Rajasthan International Film Festival) and PIFF (Pune International Film Festival).

Early life

Chatterjee was born in Pune, Maharashtra, to a Bengali Hindu family. Her father was a business executive and her mother was a political science professor. Her family traveled and lived out of the country for some time, then moved to Delhi.[3] She majored in Chemistry at Delhi University before entering the National School of Drama.[4]

Career

Chatterjee's performance in the German film Shadows of Time earned her critical acclaim. It took her to international film festivals, including the Toronto International Film Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival.[5] Thereafter she worked on an Indo-French coproduction Hava Aney Dey (Let the Wind Blow) directed by Partho Sen-Gupta which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival and won the best film award at the Durban International Film Festival among others. Following these, Chatterjee acted in Strings, Kasturi and the Bengali film Bibar, winning critical acclaim and best actress awards. Her work in the British film Brick Lane directed by Sarah Gavron gave her international exposure and recognition. Chatterjee was nominated for the British independent film awards along with actresses Judi Dench and Anne Hathaway.

Chatterjee played a major role in Bhopal: Prayer for Rain in which she starred with Martin Sheen.[6] She was the lead in Road, Movie with Abhay Deol and as earned the moniker Princess of Parallel Cinema in the Indian press.[7] Chatterjee was referred by the Indian media as the chief flag bearer at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival. She won the best actress award at the Miaac New York Film Festival for her film Bombay Summer. Referred to as one of the most international of Indian actors, she is the lead in Lucy Liu's film Meena based on the book Half the Sky.[8]

A trained Hindustani classical vocalist, she sang in the movies Road, Page 3,[9] among others. She sang at the Royal Opera House in London with British composer Jocelyn Pook.

Chatterjee was a member of the jury at the 2010 Asia Pacific Screen Awards.[10] She appeared in a T series film I Love New Year opposite Sunny Deol directed by Radhika Rao and Vinay Sapru.[11][12]

Tannishtha Chatterjee (left), IFFI (2009)

Tannishtha's Canadian film Siddharth was in official selection at the 70th Venice Film Festival and the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. She is the only Indian actress whose films have been selected in three of the major international film festivals in the same year.[13] Her other notable projects are Parched directed by Leena Yadav which opened in Toronto, Australian romantic comedy Unindian with Brett Lee[14] Island City which won the best debut director( Ruchika Oberoi) in Venice and Garth Davies's film LION co-starring Nicole Kidman and Dev Patel.[15] Her film Angry Indian Goddesses received acclaim in Toronto and Rome international film festivals. In March 2016 Tannishtha was given a special award in a ceremony held at the BAFTA for her contribution to Asian Cinema.[16] She won the best actress for the film Parched along with three other actresses in Festival 2 Valenciennes and the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles 2016.[17] She was the president of the jury of the MOOOV film festival in Belgium in 2016.[18] She won the best actress at the Pune International Film Festival 2017 for her role in Dr. Rakhmabai.[19] In 2019 Tannishtha made her directorial Debut Roam Rome Mein which had its World premier at Busan International Film Festival where she won the Asia Star Award.

Activism

Tannishtha speaks quite often on the issue of race/colorism in Indian media. She has walked out during a roast when her skin color was the subject of jokes.[20] She explored racism in Indian film and TV industry on Mithaq Kazimi's talk show series.[21] Personally, she adopted a baby girl and has encouraged others to do the same.[22]

Filmography

Films

YearFilm RoleNotes
2003Swaraj
2004Bas Yun Hi Sona
Hava Aney Dey Mona
2005Shadows of Time Masha
Divorce Kamla
2006Bibar NitaWon Best Actress Bengal Film Journalists' Association, Osian Film Festival
Strings-Bound By Faith
2007Brick Lane Nazneen AhmedNominated-British Independent Film Awards Best Actress
2008White Elephant Sita
2009Barah Aana Rani
Bombay Summer Geetha
2010Road, Movie Gypsy woman
2012Jal Kajri
Jalpari: The Desert Mermaid Shabri
Anna Karenina Masha
2013 Dekh Indian Circus KajaroWonNational Film Award – Special Jury Award / Special Mention (Feature Film)
Gulaab Gang Kajri
Monsoon Shootout Rani
Siddharth Suman Saini
Bhopal: Prayer for Rain Leela
2014 Sunrise Leela
Chauranga Dhaniya
2015I Love New Year Riya
Feast of Varanasi Inspector Rajveer Saxena
Rough Book Santoshi[23]
Parched RaniWon Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles Best Actress
Angry Indian Goddesses Nargis Nasreen
Gour Hari Dastaan Anita
2016Lion Noor
Unindian Meera
Doctor Rakhmabai Doctor RakhmabaiWon— Best Actress Pune International Film Festival
Won— Best Actress Rajasthan International Film Festival
Nominated— Best Actress Maharashtra State Film Awards
Nominated— Best Actress 17th New York Indian Film Festival
2018Beyond the Clouds Chotu's mom
2019Rani Rani Rani Rani
Jhalki
Roam Rome Mein Reena Also director[24] Asia Star Award Busan International Film Festival
2020 Unpaused   director
2022 Dahini - The Witch Kamala
2023 Joram Vaano

Web series

YearTitleRolePlatformNotes
2019ParchhayeeLavaniZEE5[25]
2021CartelRomillaAlt Balaji
2023 Scoop Leena Pradhan Netflix

Awards

Year Function Award Nomination Film Status
2006 Osian film festival Best Actress Bibar Won
2007 British Independent Film Awards 2007 Brick Lane Nominated
Bengal Film Journalists' Association Most Promising Actress Bibar Won
2009 Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council Best Actress Bombay Summer Won
2010 Stardust Award Road, Movie Nominated
2012 NYIFF Indo-American Arts Council Dekh Indian Circus Won
National Film Award (Special Mention) National Film Award Won
2016 London Asian Film Festival Contribution to Asian Cinema Won
Festival2valenciennes Best Actress Parched Won
Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles Won
Rajasthan International Film Festival Doctor Rakhmabai Won
2017 Pune International Film Festival Won
New York Indian Film Festival Nominated
Maharashtra State Film Awards Nominated
2019 Busan International Film Festival Asia Star Award[26] Roam Rome Mein Won

References

  1. Tannishtha Chatterjee Archived 8 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine. imdb.com
  2. Nomination at BIfA Archived 27 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Zimbio.com (2007-11-28). Retrieved on 2014-01-14.
  3. "Tannishtha Chatterjee Rises To The Challenge In "Brick Lane"". India Journal. 20 June 2008. Retrieved 31 January 2009.
  4. Career at NSD Archived 30 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Specials.rediff.com. Retrieved on 2014-01-14.
  5. Berlin International Film Festival Archived 1 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Berlinale.de (2005-02-11). Retrieved on 2014-01-14.
  6. Expected to be acting with Sheen. Articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com (2008-07-14). Retrieved on 2014-01-14.
  7. An interview with Tannishtha Chatterjee, main actress of BRICK LANE. cinemawithoutborders.com (2008-06-13.html)
  8. "IFFI 2009: INTERVIEW – Tannishtha Chatterjee". Reuters. 30 November 2009. Archived from the original on 2 December 2009.
  9. Tannishtha Chatterjee. indiafm.com
  10. "Promoting Films And Filmmakers Of The Asia-Pacific To A Global Audience". Asia Pacific Screen Awards. Archived from the original on 8 May 2019. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
  11. "A class act". The Telegraph. Calcutta, India. 15 May 2011. Archived from the original on 20 May 2011.
  12. "Tannishtha Chatterjee to work with Sunny Deol". The Times of India. 15 May 2011. Archived from the original on 9 June 2012.
  13. Festival Queen: Tannishtha Chatterjee on a roll : Glossary – India Today Archived 9 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Indiatoday.intoday.in (2013-08-10). Retrieved on 2014-01-14.
  14. "Tannishtha Chatterjee, Bret Lee to get intimate in UnIndian". Archived from the original on 21 November 2014. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  15. "Tannishtha, Nawazuddin, Deepti Naval in Hollywood film". Business Standard India. 15 January 2015. Archived from the original on 10 April 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  16. "Tannishtha Chatterjee 'hugely thrilled' with award in London". The Indian Express. 15 March 2016. Archived from the original on 1 April 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  17. "Festival2valenciennes". Festival2valenciennes.com. Archived from the original on 4 April 2018. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  18. http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/Tannishtha-C
  19. "Tannishtha Chatterjee bags Best Actress Award at PIFF". Times of India. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  20. "Tannishtha Chatterjee Was 'Suffocated' on TV Show That 'Roasted' Her". YouTube. Archived from the original on 5 December 2021.
  21. https://www.facebook.com/WIONews/videos/vb.451369008407073/524063804470926 Archived 17 August 2022 at the Wayback Machine
  22. "Yahoo Search - Web Search".
  23. "Ananth Mahadevan's Rough Book brings Indian education into sharp focus". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 17 February 2015. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  24. "Tannishtha Chatterjee's directorial debut 'Roam Rome Mein' to premiere at Busan Film Festival". Business Standard India. Press Trust of India. 6 September 2019. Archived from the original on 30 September 2019. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
  25. "Tannishtha Chatterjee In A Traditional Look On The Sets Of Parchhayee". Zee Tv. Archived from the original on 20 March 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  26. "Tannishtha Chatterjee honoured with Asia Star Award at Busan International Film Festival". Archived from the original on 20 March 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
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