Urban alienation a global phenomenon: Tannishtha Chatterjee

Her upcoming film "Island City" tells the story of three people dealing with loneliness in a big city and actress Tannishtha Chatterjee says urban alienation is a phenomenon prevalent all around the world.
The 35-year-old actress says there is no escape from loneliness in the modern times and that is why the movie has been lapped up at various film festivals that it has travelled to.
"'Island City' has many layers. The whole paradox of living in a place which is so crowded yet no one looks at anyone. We don't know who our neighbours are but chatting with people who are miles away and are faceless. We don't even look around and connect," Tannishtha told PTI during a visit here.

"Urban loneliness is something people relate to all across the globe. That is why a film like this could strike a chord at all the festivals it has been to. Every city has lonely people."
Ruchika Oberoi makes her directorial debut with "Island City", which has travelled to 26 film festivals. It was screened at the 72nd Venice International Film Festival, where Ruchika won the FEDORA prize for the Best Young Director.
Tannishtha's section in the film is an ambiguous love story that starts when she receives anonymous love letters with lines like, "Only I see your beautiful soul."

"She is the invisible person. Nobody gives her any attention and then suddenly one day an anonymous letter comes and things change."

Tannishtha says the director has beautifully used visual humour to tie three complex stories.
"Ruchika ties all the complexities in a beautiful way through humour. It is very difficult to tie three stories like that through humour, which is not language related but very visual. It has a humour in the story and in situations itself."
Praising Ruchika, Tannishtha says she was uncompromising as a director and that is why the film has turned out to be the away it has.
"The three stories are visually and stylistically shot completely different. That is interesting and it will engage the audience. It has been shot at multiple locations. I congratulate her for having the right dream and for getting lapped up in her very first attempt."

Ruchika is all praise for her film's stars- Tannishtha and Vinay Pathak, saying her work was minimalised during the making of the film as the actors would come prepared and would know exactly what to do in the scenes.
"Although my crew was not experienced, my actors were exceptional. Vinay and Tannishtha brought so much of their training and their art to the film. There were times I didn't need to direct them. They would just come and do it themselves the way I needed it."
"Island City," produced by National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), also stars Amruta Subhash and will release on September 2.