I was not to be friendly with Sunny, says Tannishtha Chatterjee

Tannishtha Chatterjee makes an appearance in Garth Davis’ luminously lauded Lion for less than ten minutes and 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. Vikramaditya Motwane told me that I was the best of the Indian cast and that’s 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.”

But there was one thing that troubled the actress — she wasn’t allowed to get close to the child prodigy Sunny Pawar. “Garth made it very clear to me that I was not to be friendly with Sunny. That was really hard because he is a natural-born scene-stealer 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. Garth felt that if I befriended Sunny, he would not have been able to express the shock and hurt of the moment when he is betrayed by my character.”