Mumbai, Oct 24: Actress Tisca Chopra, whose grandparents were victims of Partition, found acting in Anup Singh's Punjabi film 'Qissa', a post-colonial story about a family uprooted by the events of 1947, an emotionally cathartic experience.
The 39-year-old actress plays the long-suffering wife of Umber Singh (Irrfan), who is trying to build a life for his family all over again in the post-colonial India in the film.
'Qissa' is competing in the India Gold section at the ongoing Mumbai International Film Festival and drew a great response from the audiences here.
"'Qissa' came to me four years back. He was trying to make the film for two years but it did not work out and eventually when it did, we were so happy. We have been speaking about the film so much that there was a great familiarity with the subject. Anup is a great craftsman. He is my teacher as he taught me about silence and not decorating my performance too much," Tisca told PTI in an interview.
The actress said she had a sense of deja vu as she was acting out the stories that had actually happened to her paternal and maternal grandparents, who both were victims of 1947 Partition.
"I was shooting near Wagah border and that was the exact spot where my grandparents landed in the newly formed India. I remember my father called and when I told him that I was shooting in this place, he was silent for a moment. He then told me the story of how his father had landed with six children and Rs 1000 thousand in his pocket that got picked," Tisca said.
"So, it was a cathartic film to do because I have heard so many stories about Partition. While making this film I was living with hundreds of stories which connected me to my own personal history," she added.
Apart from 'Qissa', Tisca has a film called 'Rahasya' and a comedy. She is also playing Anil Kapoor's wife in TV series '24'.
Tisca is also writing a book that would be like a handbook on cinema for both fans and aspiring actors as it covers a number of subjects.
The book was earlier titled 'Get Your Act Together' but Tisca says they might change the title.
"I am editing the book now. It has everything to do with cinema other than acting. It will tell the fans about behind the scenes about a film and will also cover topics that aspiring actors need to know including casting couch," she said.
Tisca is currently on the jury of Dimensions Mumbai, a short film competition by aspiring filmmakers about Mumbai. The jury is headed by Shoojit Sircar and also has names like Rajkumar Yadav, Ravi Jadhav and Niranjan Iyengar.
The actress said watching all the short films about Mumbai made her realise that there were places in the city that even she did not know.
"I have been in Mumbai for a long time but I did not know about many facets of the city. There was a film on crab catchers, about zero miles and in one film- weather played a character. It was fascinating as an actor to see all this inspiring work," Tisca said.
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