It’s content over money for Tisca

Tisca Chopra says she has always picked projects in which she believes and is proud to maintain her integrity as an actor. The 43-year-old actor, whose performances in films such as Taare Zameen Par, Firaaq, Ankur Arora Murder Case and Qissa have been lauded, says commercial viability of a project does not worry her. “I have been lucky in my career. I have done things which I wanted to do. I have not compromised artistically and I am really proud of it. If I don’t like something, I will not do it. I have worked with conviction. Even if the projects were not commercially viable, I have done them as I believed in the stories. I have maintained my integrity as an artiste. People might not like my taste, but I have believed in each and every film I did,” says Tisca. The actor, whose next film The Hungry got rave response at its premiere at the ongoing Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), says content is king today. “Everyone has started realising that without good content projects will not work.The audience has become smarter. Availability of content to them is huge now.We may soon be taken over by the West, if we don’t focus on content,” remarks Tisca. The movie is directed by Bornila Chatterjee and Tisca says she always enjoys working with women filmmakers as it is an important step in promoting gender equality in the film industry.“Till women don’t start writing, producing and directing, things won’t improve for female actors. Till that balance is not sorted out, female actors won’t get their due,” she adds. Tisca is currently working on Bioscopewala and a short film titled Chhuri. She is also writing a feature film.