On the Brick Lane

Tannishtha Chatterjee has been invited to the Toronto International Film Festival for the world premiere of the screen adaptation of Monica Ali’s novel.
Bengalis, it seems, will make quite a presence at the Toronto International Film Festival. Buddhadeb Dasgupta’s Ami, Yasin aar Amar Madhubala will be screened at the Masters section of the TIFF.
Rituparno Ghosh’s The Last Lear is among the 73 international films to unveil at the festival.And now comes the news that yet another Bengali artiste — Tannishtha Chatterjee — has been invited to attend the world premiere of the British film, Brick Lane, at TIFF. Tannishtha is perhaps the only Bengali actor to have been officially invited by the festival authorities to grace the occasion.
Talking from her Delhi residence, Tannishtha says, “Though Brick Lane is a British film, the Bengali side of me says a part of it was shot in Kolkata. It makes me really happy that I’ve been invited to Toronto along with the greats of both Bengali and Indian cinema, including Buddhadeb Dasgupta and Rituparno Ghosh and Amitabh Bachchan.
I shall be reaching Toronto on September 6. My director, Sarah Gavron, will also be there.” Both Brick Lane and The Last Lear will be screened in the Contemporary World Cinema Category.
This, however, is not the first time that Tannishtha is officially attending TIFF. Two years back, her film, Shadows of Time, was also screened at the Special Presentation section at Toronto.
On her way to the TIFF, Tannishtha will be attending the prestigious Telluride Film Festival in Portsmouth and then stop over in Los Angeles to promote the film before it premieres at TIFF. “Telluride is one of the most exclusive film festivals where art houses films are premiered. Brick Lane is in competition there,” she says. Last year, films like Babel, The Last King of Scotland and Volver were screened Telluride.
While so much is happening on the international front, very few know that Tannishtha had to give up the role of one of the hockey players in Chak De! India because the dates clashed with her Brick Lane assignment. “I had already signed Brick Lane when I was offered the role of the haughty senior hockey player in Chak De! India who needles the coach.
The role required seven months commitment when I was on the verge of leaving for London to begin my rehearsals for Brick Lane. Though I haven’t watched Chak De! India yet, I’m very happy with its success,” she says.
Well, it’s all about the choosing one’s lane and leaving footprints on the sands of time. For Tannishtha, it was Brick Lane.