‘We’ve never had any sibling rivalry’

The adorable girl in Neal ‘n’ Nikki (2005) is set to make her comeback in the industry with the film Code Name Abdul. Second daughter of actress Tanuja and the late writer and filmmaker Shomu Mukherjee, Tanishaa is the sister of the popular actress Kajol. Having made her debut in 2003 with Sssshhh…, she found her way around the entertainment industry, both across films and television.

In this telephonic interaction, Tanishaa who will next be seen in Rosie the Saffron Chapter, talks about her upcoming films and shares stories from her childhood and about her bond with sister Kajol and mum Tanuja.

How do you think you can encourage audiences to come back to theatres?
I’d just choose interesting films and roles that bring audiences back to the theatres — giving them something they’ve not seen before. Code Name Abdul will see me in a different light, a character my fans will surely love to watch me in.

And what’s your role in the film?
I play Salma, an interesting character that I instantly loved when I read the script. Interestingly, while I was excited about playing the role, Eshwar Gunturu was not convinced that I could because he’d only seen me in glamorous roles in my earlier films. I just told him, ‘You have to make it happen.’ Then we studied the film like one does a play, and it helped us bring forth brilliant performances that were deeply ingrained in our characters.

Would you like to do roles like your sister Kajol did early in career — like that in Gupt (1997)?
From Neal ‘n’ Nikki, I started taking a chance with my characters, choosing roles I was interested in playing. For instance, my roles in Sarkar (2005) and Sarkar Raj (2008) and Anna (2016), are different. Basically, I want to focus on doing varied characters.

Do you think audiences enjoy grey shades in characters and films?
I don’t think Hindi cinema — new or old — has ever had black or white characters. If you look closely at the well-written characters, each of them has black and white shades, just like us human beings.

Your mum’s opinion on your doing different characters…

I think Mum’s happy I’m exploring with characters and willing to work on the characters. She doesn’t care about results but cares for the work I put in. She’s happy, I see. [Smiles] She’s hoping that people appreciate the hard work we’ve put in making the film.

Will you, Tanuja and Kajol share screen space in a film?

We too wish to see all three of us together. However, we’re three very strong and different individuals, and that means what Mum or Kajol like, I might not like, and vice versa. I think it’s difficult to get such three individuals in one film together. But yes, if there’s a good opportunity and if we all like it, it can happen.

What about your bond with your sister — any sibling rivalry?
Lots of love and no rivalry! [Laughs] But seriously, Kajol has always been motherly towards me and I credit my mum for our upbringing. There’s never been any reason for sibling rivalry. My sister is an individual in her own right with qualities I respect. Similarly, I’m an individual in my own right and completely different from her. I think being more similar may have caused rivalry between us. But that’s not so at all. In fact, I’ve no rivalry with my female friends either. We’ve been brought up to appreciate a woman for all she has instead of looking at her as competition.