‘I am overwhelmed with the response’
Actor Tannishtha Chatterjee is on cloud nine. Her directorial debut, Roam Rome Mein, got a “massive response” at the Busan Film Festival, in South Korea. But the cherry on the cake was that Tannishtha won the Asian Star Award for the film. “I am overwhelmed with the response. The festival is huge internationally and to get the Asian Star award is unbelievable. So many celebrities watched the film and a famous Korean filmmaker even tweeted about the film. Even Adil Hussain, whose work I admire, tweeted twice. Everyone has been so wonderful. It feels like a dream,” she says.
Tannishtha admits that while leaving for the festival, she was anxious about the reaction to her debut directorial but is “now feeling confident” about it. “In the film, Nawazuddin Siddiqui is unlike how people have seen him. People will be surprised by the film as nowadays, they don’t want to see the run-of-themill stuff. When you give them something fresh, they love it,” the 38-year-old adds.
The Angry Indian Goddesses (2015) actor wasn’t really thinking about directing, but when she shared the story with Nawazuddin while they were shooting for Lion (2016), he was blown away and urged her to write it. Later, he told her that she would be the best person to direct it. Tannishtha is thankful to have found producers who invested in an “unconventional film” that is in Hindi, English and Italian.
“We shot for the film in November, and here we are, winning an award after its premiere. The audiences are embracing the film. We are going to the Rome Film Festival next,” Tannishtha signs off.