Tannishtha Chatterjee Had To Be Mean To Sunny Pawar

Tannishtha Chatterjee comes on in Garth Davis’ luminously lauded Lion  for less than ten minutes.

Yet she leaves a very strong impact.

Says Tannishtha, “It is strange.I am in the film for such a brief time. But those who have seen Lion have liked my work. VikramadityaMotwane told me I was the best of the Indian cast.Which was a huge compliment.”

The role in Lion was special for Tannishtha on many counts. “This is the first time that I am playing a negative character. And I was very participative. I selected some of the music that went into my scene including Bappi Lahiri’s Come Closer.”

It was a heartbreaking experience on one level because Tannishthawas not allowed to get close to the child prodigy Sunny Pawar. “The director Garth Davis made it very clear to me that I was not to be friendly to Sunny. That was really hard because he is a natural-bornscenestealer not only in the film but also on  location. He was everyone’s favourite, he was showered with cuddles and kisses.  Even I wanted to pamper him. But my character in the film is shown to be deceptive and mean to Sunny. First she wins his confidence and then betrays him. The director Garth Davis felt if I has befriended Sunny he would not have been able to express the shock and hurt  of the moment when he is betrayed by my character.”

Tannishtha is full of praise for Sunny Pawar. “He is a little rock star enjoying every bit of the recognition that has come to him.”