Last year, audiences became familiar with the extremely talented Tisca Chopra, who played Ishaan Awasthi’s mother in the critically and commercially acclaimed Taare Zameen Par. In addition to leaving a deep impression with viewers, Tisca bagged several nominations for her excellent work in the film.

In an exclusive tête-à-tête with Bollyspice.com, Tisca speaks about life post-TZP and her upcoming work.

Has life changed for Tisca since the year-old release of Taare Zameen Par? “A lot in many ways and not at all in other ways. I am being offered great work and the level of acceptance and affection within the industry and the public is unbelievable!” exclaims Tisca.

Still, Tisca remains grounded and calls her family and friends her most important treasure. In fact, she claims that she never expected such praise upon signing the film.

“I have no connections at all. I was called for an audition and I went, determined to do my best…and the best happened!...I think it was after I saw the film that we saw a future for Ms. Awasthi. I feel she was the underdog in the film, she needed more of a voice,” she explains. Well said!

Since then, she has been working on Nandita Das’ directional debut Firaaq where she plays a drastically different role from that in Taare Zameen Par. Against the backdrop of religious riots in Gujarat, she plays Anu who is forced to deal with escalating tension in her marriage to a Muslim man, played by Sanjay Suri. The film boasts of a stellar cast including Nasserudin Shah and Shahana Goswami, and follows the lives of several individuals who are affected by communal violence in the state.

“I connected with Nandita on a very personal level. Her mother is a very senior member of my Buddhist practice. She is warm, intelligent and perceptive. It’s always a pleasure to work with people of depth and character and Firaaq is a fine piece of work. It’s already won several international awards, including Best Film at the Singapore Film Festival,” Tisca said of her recent work.

In fact, Tisca recently saw the film herself and calls it “excellent, with great performances and a finely balanced script.”

Of Nandita as a director and person, Tisca gushes, “She is an astute observer of human nature and also knows how to project a film to an international audience. She’s very sure of her craft—not like a first time director at all.”

Although she’s a great actress, some find it hard to imagine Tisca in the mold of a traditional Bollywood heroine.

In response to this, she says, “As an actor I feel the critical thing is to remain mentally free; to do or be anything at all. I do not judge the roles I get, I just do them as well as I can. And if I do not like a script I decline to be a part of that enterprise, that’s all. So if someone has a good script, I’ll do it regardless of the genre.”

We also coaxed Tisca into a brief rapid fire based on actors and actresses she would like to work with…

Actors: Robert De Niro, Johnny Depp and Russell Crowe and in India Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar and Hrithik Roshan. Aamir was on my list but now that’s already done!

Actresses: Meryl Streep, Felicity Huffman and Marion Cotillard from outside India and Shabana Azmi, Sridevi and Rekha.

After Firaaq, Tisca has an untitled comedy by Sunil Dosh and Sharat Kataria along with Vinay Shukla’s Mirch. In addition, she will be hosting a show titled ‘Revealed’ for Zoom as well as her regular endorsements.

Beyond her work, most of us don’t know much about Tisca Chopra, the person. What does she have to tell us?

“That’s the best way to know me…I am painfully shy. Other than my friends and family, I can only let go in front of a camera.”