Tannishtha Chatterjee is an Indian film actress and director best known in the west for her performance in the British film Brick Lane (2007), the film adaptation of Monica Ali‘s best selling novel of the same name for which she was nominated best actress at the British Independent Film Awards. Her other notable roles have been in Academy Award-winning German director Florian Gallenberger‘s film Shadows of Time, Road, Movie with Abhay Deol, Dekh Indian Circus, for which she won the National Film Award – Special Jury Award / Special Mention (Feature Film) and Marathi film Doctor Rakhmabai for which she has won the Best Actress Award at RIFF (Rajasthan International Film Festival) and PIFF (Pune International Film Festival). In 2019 she directed her first feature film Roam Rome Mein.

Chatterjee was born in Pune, Maharashtra, on 23 November, to a BengaliHindu family. Her father was a business executive and her mother was a political science professor. Her family traveled and lived out of the country for some time, then moved to Delhi.  She studied at Bluebells School International. She majored in Chemistry at Delhi University before entering the National School of Drama.

Chatterjee’s performance in the German film, Shadows of Time earned her critical acclaim. It took her to international film festivals, including the Toronto International Film Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival.  Thereafter she worked on an Indo-French coproduction Hava Aney Dey (Let the Wind Blow) directed by Partho Sen-Gupta which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival and won the best film award at the Durban International Film Festival among others. Following these, Chatterjee acted in Strings, Kasturi and the Bengali filmBibar, winning critical acclaim and best actress awards. Her work in the British film Brick Lane directed by Sarah Gavron gave her international exposure and recognition. Chatterjee was nominated for the British independent film awards along with actresses Judi Dench and Anne Hathaway.

Tannishtha’s Canadian film Siddharth was in official selection at the 70th Venice Film Festival and the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. She is the only Indian actress whose films have been selected in three of the major international film festivals in the same year.  Her other notable projects are Parched directed by Leena Yadav which opened in Toronto, Australian romantic comedy Unindian with Brett Lee Island City which won the best debut director( Ruchika Oberoi) in Venice and Garth Davies’s film LION co-starring Nicole Kidman and Dev Patel.  Her film Angry Indian Goddesses received acclaim in Toronto and Rome international film festivals. In March 2016 Tannishtha was given a special award in a ceremony held at the BAFTA for her contribution to Asian Cinema.  She won the best actress for the film Parched along with three other actresses in Festival 2 Valenciennes and the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles 2016.  She was the president of the jury of the MOOOV film festival in Belgium in 2016.  She won the best actress at the Pune International Film Festival 2017 for her role in Dr. Rakhmabai.  In 2019 Tannishtha made her directorial Debut Roam Rome Mein which had its World premier at Busan International Film Festival where she won the Asia Star Award.

FILMOGRAPHY

2020 Unpaused. Director
2019 Roam Rome Mein Reena. Debut film as director. Asia Star Award Busan International Film Festival
2019 Jhalki
2019 Rani Rani Rani Rani
2018 Beyond the Clouds
2016 Doctor Rakhmabai Doctor Rakhmabai. Won— Best Actress Pune International Film Festival
Won— Best Actress Rajasthan International Film Festival
Nominated— Best Actress Maharashtra State Film Awards
Nominated— Best Actress 17th New York Indian Film Festival
Unindian
Lion
2015 Gour Hari Dastaan
Angry Indian Goddesses
Parched Rani Won Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles Best Actress
Rough Book
Feast of Varanasi
I Love New Year
2014 Chauranga
Sunrise
2013 Bhopal: Prayer for Rain
Siddharth Suman
Monsoon Shootout
Gulaab Gang
Dekh Indian Circus Kajaro Won—National Film Award – Special Jury Award / Special Mention (Feature Film)
2012 Anna Karenina
Jalpari: The Desert Mermaid
2012 Jal
2010 Road, Movie
2009 Bombay Summer
Barah Aana
2008 White Elephant
2007 Brick Lane. Nominated-British Independent Film Awards Best Actress
2006 Strings-Bound By Faith
Bibar. Won Best Actress Bengal Film Journalists’ Association, Osian Film Festival
2005 Divorce
Shadows of Time
2004 Hava Aney Dey
Bas Yun Hi
2003 Swaraj