After working in a short film Life is Short, actress Tanishaa Mukherjee is back with a second short, Agni-Daah, that’s got a lot of appreciation at the Ameity International Short Film Festival where it premiered. We speak to the soft-spoken artiste about the same and more.
What's your role in Agni-Daah and how did you prepare for it?
Agni-Daah is about the girl child, who was dumped in a dumpster and picked up by a gentleman who runs the crematorium. He raises her as his own daughter or as an assistant. The film’s plot is around her relationship with the environment where she is brought up, where she is totally disconnected from emotions due to her circumstances. She is brought up in a crematorium, where she becomes disconnected from any emotion related to life and death. The only person she cares about is her father and the film deals with how her relationship with death changes when he dies.
It was very difficult to prepare for a role like this. But at the same time, I believe every woman in India has prepared for it because she has to experience abandonment at some point in her life, in a form of rejection, or in a form of discrimination in society or in her own family, or in some form of abuse, and I think that prepares you to do a role like this, where deep down you witness such dark stories which motivates you to portray such characters.
Are you also exploring the web?
I would love to explore the web, but in a way that should be true to me. I would like to dig my claws into it because I think there's very good scripting is happening and I really want to play a character that keeps flipping or transforming.
How much has the film world changed since you debuted?
Things have changed a lot since the time I debuted. There is so much content out there, so much interesting writing, there is no stereotypical way of playing a heroine, and even a mid-level character can stand out based on performance. So, I think things are changing in a very interesting way and I am happy about it.
What's the biggest lesson u have picked up?
The biggest thing I have learned from the industry is that kindness is everything. The only thing that will hold you back is your ego. I heard something very interesting recently about Priyanka Chopra, where she said that "my ego is not bigger than my job" and that's what even I feel is right because your ego is something which holds you back. Knowing your job well is not the same thing as ego. Ego is arrogance which always makes you fall.
Your bond with Kajol?
My bond with Kajol now will always be a sister bond forever. My favourite movies of her include Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, but as far as performance-based film is concerned I believe she performed best in Dushman.
Your fashion choices?
My fashion choices keep changing with my mood. Sometimes it's comfortable, sometimes it’s fashionable and sometimes it's uncomfortable but it’s funky and cool. I at times experiment with bolder and more dramatic fashion, while at other times I settle down for simpler choices.