This story is from March 12, 2008

Rip-offs are disastrous:Tisca

Piali Dasgupta / TNN / Mar 12, 2008, 00:00 IST

Text Size

Small
Medium
Large

It's the original 'Taare Zameen Par' that’s given Tisca Chopra new impetus. She tells TOI about her plans.

doweshowbellyad=0; RELAXED: Tisca Chopra. (TOI Photo)More picsShe didn��t travel around the city, but loved the little she saw of Bangalore and even checked out Italian cuisine at an Indiranagar restaurant. And was Tisca Chopra, the concerned mother in Taare Zameen Par, mobbed? ��A few people did recognise me,�� smiles the actress.
And the recognition is all thanks to TZP.Her previous films (she��s been around since 1993) like Platform, Hyderabad Blues 2, Karobar, Open Doors, Sau Jhooth Ek Sach, Taqdeerwala, 15th August and Bali Umar Ko Salaam didn��t really earn her fame and Tisca knows that. ��TZP��s brought me a lot of recognition.
But the people I worked with before knew I was good at my work. I��ve worked very hard on all my films. At that point in time, they were like my Steven Spielberg films and I gave them my best. A film like TZP happens rarely and doing a film like this is a huge bonus. Today I have a lot more to choose from.�� she declares.
And the film she��s chosen as her next release is Nandita Das��s directorial debut, In Such Times. ��I��m extremely fond of her. She��s written a wonderful script along with Shivji Kothari. The film��s about a cross-section of people,�� she says.

Although two to three scripts have started pouring in every week, Tisca is not on a signing spree. ��I��m in no hurry. I want to do the best work in the country and the world,�� she says. As for the roles she��s looking for, they should be of ��lively, spunky women.�� Adds Tisca, ��I could play a terrorist or even a glam role. And I��m dying to do a comedy.��
Not just film offers, post TZP Tisca has been asked to take classes at Subhash Ghai��s acting school by none other than Naseeruddin Shah. ��It should happen sometime soon,�� she says.

And there��s her writing. Tisca is currently penning two scripts. ��One is a fresh look at India, the other is women-centric. Hopefully something should come out of them,�� she says. And her literature background helps. ��Knowing your Shakespeare, Milton, Hardy and Chaucer is a big help,�� she says. And what does she think of the dearth of original scripts in Bollywood? ��Rip-offs are disastrous. It��s because of a lack of belief in ourselves and an inability to spend time on scripts,�� she comments.
Tisca will soon float her own production house. ��I��ll start with television and move onto films later,�� she says. Television is a medium she��s familiar with since she acted in Kasauti Zindagii Kay years ago. So what��s her take on the saas-bahu serials? ��It��s one aspect of our society, not the only one. Today women are out there, doing various things. Stories need to open up instead of being caricaturish,�� she states.
Much like the stories her grand dad Khushwant Singh writes. ��He��s my mom��s uncle. I had gone to see him since he wasn��t well. But I haven��t checked with him about whether he��s seen TZP,�� says Tisca. And does she think Darsheel Safari of TZP is right in claiming that he deserves the Best Actor award and not SRK? ��I haven��t really heard him say that. He��s a well brought up little boy. But maybe, just for this year, he��s a bigger star than SRK,�� she says.

End of Article