Tannishtha Chatterjee returns to stage with Breast of Luck after cancer battle
On August 24, 2025, a social media post by Tannishtha Chatterjee brought a sudden stillness to an otherwise routine workday. She revealed she had been battling cancer and undergoing chemotherapy. The news was deeply unsettling. I had first noticed her work in Angry Indian Goddesses, and over the years, she has stood out not only for her performances but for a voice that has remained emotionally and artistically grounded.
What stayed with me was not the illness, but the tone of her words. There was no self-pity. Instead, she wrote about friendship, empathy and human presence — about how real people carried her through her darkest months.
Tannishtha has built a career spanning Indian independent cinema and international projects, with films such as Parched, Brick Lane, Shadows of Time, Dekh Indian Circus and Angry Indian Goddesses. As both actor and director, her work has consistently leaned into emotionally driven storytelling.
This year, she returns to the stage for the first time after her cancer treatment with Breast of Luck: Love, Loss and the Market Crash of the Heart — a two-actor play co-written and performed with Sharib Hashmi, and directed by Leena Yadav. Blending humour, music and emotional intimacy, the production marks a deeply personal creative chapter — not just a comeback, but a return to the light. In an exclusive conversation with Indulge Express, she opens up…
Breast of Luck is co-written by both of you — what inspired this story, and how did you approach writing it together?
We’ve known each other and worked together in the past. I was directing a film called Full Plate, and we had also shot in Dehradun, so there was already a creative comfort between us. For a long time after that, we kept talking about doing a play together. Initially, the idea was to maybe adapt a piece of literature written by someone else. We would keep brainstorming, throwing ideas around, but nothing was really taking shape.
Then, sometime later, my medical reports came in and I was diagnosed with cancer. It was completely heartbreaking. Around the same time, Sharib and I already had a plan to meet over coffee. I remember thinking I didn’t want to cancel it — sometimes, in moments like that, you just want to sit with a friend.
When I told him about my diagnosis, he listened, and then very gently suggested, what if we tried to write something around this situation — but with a sense of humour. Sharib’s wife has also battled cancer, and he was her caregiver during that time. So he understood the emotional landscape very deeply. He’s an artiste, but also a very sensitive human being, and there was an unspoken understanding between us.
That conversation slowly became the seed of this play. We began writing together, and what started as a response to a very difficult moment gradually grew into a story we both believed in. And now, to be able to bring it to the stage feels incredibly special.
The play is being directed by Leena Yadav, with whom you’ve worked earlier on Parched. How did that collaboration come about?
After Sharib and I had written the first draft, I wanted to read it out to a few close friends and get their reactions. Leena was actually the first person I shared the play with. She listened to it and immediately connected with the material — she really loved it.
She then asked me if we already had a director on board. I told her we didn’t. At that point, we ourselves were still figuring it out — whether we would direct each other, since it’s a two-character play, or whether we wanted someone outside the performance space to guide us.
Leena was very open and warm about it. She said she would love to come on board as the director. And that was that. It felt very organic.
I’m genuinely happy about this reunion. After such a long time, to come back together creatively — and this time in theatre — feels really special.
After everything you’ve been through, especially battling cancer, has that experience changed you as an artiste? Do you look at art differently now?
I truly believe that the reason I can say today that I am doing okay is because I am an artiste. Art played a very big role in my healing.
When I was going through chemotherapy, I was also working on the post-production of my film Full Plate. So even during that difficult phase, my mind was engaged with something I deeply love — cinema, storytelling, shaping a narrative. After that, I began writing this play.
Creativity brought a lot of positivity into my life. It kept my spirit active. It gave me something to hold on to.
This play is a musical, so I’m singing live on stage, acting, rehearsing, being physically and emotionally present. In many ways, art has been healing me — quietly, consistently, and very deeply.
What: Breast of Luck — a musical comedy play exploring modern love, masculinity and cancer recovery in urban India
Where: G5A Foundation for Contemporary Culture, Laxmi Mills Estate, Shakti Mills Ln, Mahalaxmi West, Mumbai
When:
• January 29 — 4.30 pm & 8.00 pm
• January 30 — 4.30 pm & 8.00 pm
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