Interview with Tisca Chopra

Just like we are taught to never judge a book by its cover, we too should never speculate about the personality of a film star simply by his/her onscreen or public persona. While Tisca Chopra has always remained clear of any controversies, she is somewhat of a dark horse of the film industry. Gaining acclaim after her comeback in Taare Zameen Par, I found her, through my interactions on twitter and email, to be a very down to earth person, courteous, and someone who has varied interests ranging from traveling to writing, along with an obvious passion for cinema. Her colorful nature, she did answer the questions in purple, along with a knack for good humor, just read some of her answers, she has won many hearts with her smile and brilliant performances in films and in commercials.

I would like to thank Ms. Chopra for taking out the time from her busy schedule to answer the questions put forth about her life and about her time in the Indian film industry.

Raghav Modi (RM): You've been working in the film industry for a while now, but your comeback came about with Taare Zameen Parwith a rather unconventional role of a mother to a young boy. How did that happen?

Tisca Chopra (TC): One of the assistants on the film, Ritu Bhatia had seen my work on TV. I was called in to audition. I did my best at the audition and I was on the same evening. 

RM: Being a part of the Indian film industry for so many years how do you feel it has changed over the years?

TC: The age of the actor is here. If you can act, you’ll be working and working a lot. The only thing that can stop you is if you develop an attitude.

Multiplexes have breathed life into new types of stories. The next step is movies that have multi ethnic, multi country casts and crews- world stories... some of that we have seen in Crash and Babel, but more is yet to come.

RM: What according to you is the next logical step that the film industry should be heading towards? Has the audience really started to look forward to "intelligent" cinema or is there scope for everything still?

TC: Films like Ready, Golmaal and Son Of Sardaar prove that the audiences love comedies and action films. Yet, slowly there is a distinct audience emerging for smaller and sassier films too. With a bursting-at-the-seams population like ours, how can only one type of film work? Everything works, so long as it's got a semblance of a soul.

RM: There has always been a gap of few years between your films. Your filmography is somewhat empty between 1995 till 2000 and then again from 2004 till 2007. This also included a name change. Why have these breaks been important and where have you been busy during these years?

TC: There are three kinds of roles for women in Bollywood- Babe, Bhabhi and Beeji. I keep ducking the stereotype. Anything that offers me chance to play a real person, I will do it. Fat, funny, thin, bald, ugly...anything, so long as its real and has a good story to tell.

I’ve never been homogeneous. I do not feel pressure to do work all the time. I travel, I read and when something fun comes up, I do it. It's important for me to believe in the story and in the people making it. One can’t keep reaping if one is not sowing. I want to put in a little living to be able to bring something fresh to my work. I don’t want to develop emotional myopia…I can’t see other actors films and act out of that. I need to meet people, observe life, and do different things.

Meantime, I have finished a book I am writing. It's called ‘Get Your Act Together’. We have also been traveling with ‘Dinner with Friends‘ a fabulous play that I’ve had the good fortune to be in. 

RM: Ever since your return to films you have been doing a number serious films/roles like TZP, Firaaq or even Mirch to an extent. Has this been a conscious decision or it is always about the role rather than the genre of the film?

TC: Not at all. I am absolutely dying to do a comedy. Friends and family will tell you that I’m quite a clown. TZP set a benchmark that most people just follow. Coming up shortly is a comedy I did, ‘10ml Love’. I enjoyed that so much that now I’m seriously looking for another comic script… something totally crazy. Something like As Good As It Gets… smart and funny.

RM: Although it is a clichéd question, but you must have a wish list when it comes to directors and actors. So, which director and actor would you want to work with, someone you haven't worked with yet?

TV: Anyone with a delicious script. Actually, I am now keen to write a script myself... maybe that’s the next step for me. But, if you are asking whose work I like, then Raju Hirani, Vishal Bhardwaj, Shimit Amin, Dibaker Banerjee, Neeraj Pandey (Wednesday), Subhash Kapoor (Phas Gaye Re Obama), Abhishek Sharma(Tere Bin Laden) are some names.

Internationally, I’m a huge fan of Woody Allen’s films. There are so many excellent directors like John Lasseter, The Coen brothers, Peter Jackson, Clint Eastwood, Ang Lee, Martin Scoecsese and Christopher Nolan. I’d love to work with actors like Leonardo Di Capprio, Jhonny Depp, Helen Mirren, Ryan Gosling and Meryl Streep.

RM: As an actress, do you have any regrets, roles that you missed out on for one reason or another?

TC: I did not miss out on anything because I live for the moment and make the film I’m doing at the moment the best fun thing in the world. So whether the film does well or not, I’ve given my heart and soul to it and had a blast making it. It's a win win. So, to answer your question I have no regrets.

..unless you talk about ‘Fargo’,‘Chicago’, ‘Bullets over Broadway‘ or ‘As Good As It Gets’, then yes I did miss out on those.. 

RM: Can you tell us about some of your up-and-coming projects?

TC: Coming out on the 7th of December is ‘10ml Love’, a mad comedy based on Shakespeare’s‘A Midsummer Nights Dream’. I’m filming ‘Ankur Arora Murder Case’ that is being produced by Vikram Bhatt, at the moment. ‘Qissa’, an international film with Irrfan is just getting done. There’s a bi-lingual thriller that is starting in February. And like I said, I have an idea for a film, which is a comedy. I want to write that asap.

RM: What are some of the perks of being in the limelight and also some drawbacks that you wish you could change?

TC: I wish I didn’t have to wear high heels. Something about wearing high heels makes your brain stop functioning. The flip side is that, that makes one appealing to certain types of men.

I’m also intrinsically shy, so sometimes that becomes an effort- to fight my basic personality and be open. Being a celebrity, one has to reveal selectively, but being an actor has opened my soul.

RM: One of the perks that we are aware of is that actors get to travel all around the world on the pretext of filming. Is there anyplace that you've discovered because of a shoot that you would like to return to?

TC: I’m pretty hooked to travel, work or no work. My husband’s a pilot, so we end up traveling a lot. I fell in love with Istanbul. That’s one place I’d love to go back to. Manali is a favorite in India. I want to definitely go to Ladakh this coming year, the Dead Sea, the Rio Mardi Gras and the Machu Picchu area.

RM: Before we let you go you have to tell us your five favourite Indian Films and five favourite Non-Indian films?

TC:  International- As Good As It Gets, Fargo, Shawshank Redemption, Bullets Over Broadway, The Green Mile.  

Indian- Lagaan, Ab Tak Chappan, Raat aur Din, Taare Zameen Par, 3 Idiots.

Turbulence (Book Review)

Superheroes are the in. Yes we get that. They are on our TV screens, in cinemas, in comics as always, and also in books. We have been bombarded with superheroes of all kinds, even the “real” ones (Superheroes, Super, Kick Ass) without any powers over the last five years or so in every possible way.

Amidst all this comes the new book by Samit Basu titled Turbulence. Below is my review of the book, which is a slightly elongated version of the one I posted on the Amazon.co.uk website.

Turbulence is a story about a handful of individuals from different walks of life unknowingly ending up with superpowers after a flight from London to Delhi. It is a story about these very individuals discovering their new identities and coming to terms with their powers and deciding on how to eventually use them. It is a classic tale of Good Vs Evil with emotions and self discovery thrown in as extra measure to give the characters a more human feel which in turn adds to the charm of the book.

It is quite evident that the author Samit Basu is up-to-date with his knowledge about superheroes and the pop culture references are in abundance throughout the book. He is not short on humor either with a number of instances where I did literally laugh-out-loud. Unfortunately, the biggest flaw for me lies with the powers that are allotted to the characters. Throughout the book I could not help but relate certain aspects to comic books, or TV series like Heroes, or films like X-Men, Avengers, Superman, etc. For example, there is a "suit" that is somewhat on the lines of Iron Man. Moreover, it even folds-up into a briefcase which to me shouted Iron Man 2, the film. There is a character who can bulk himself up and become a tiger faced beast which seemed pretty much like the Hulk without the obvious turmoil that the Hulk/Dr. Banner go through. Even the main villain, Jai, has shades of Magneto, not in terms of power, but in terms of their thought process. So while I tried to enjoy the book, I could not but help draw up these similarities, and there were quite a few, and I am not even a comic book fan.

Having said that, the book does have interesting characters, especially the ones that are regional to India. The Shinde Brothers provide an episode that would fair interestingly well should the book be ever made into a movie. Although once again this incident is reminiscent of the attack on X-Men’s Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters from one of the films.

Some of the other powers that are featured in the book, which I shall not mention so you can enjoy reading, are unique and bring about the fun element in the book. The book is also a small window in the thinking of young-India and in a somewhat unconventional way manages to show the reader how the new generation has been influenced by the West in their upbringing.   

Turbulence takes a little while to set itself up. While it took me a couple of weeks to get through the first 100 pages, I finished the next 250 in one day. It is also the start of a series and it is understandable that the basis has to be formed, so when the sequel Resistance comes out next year, it will hopefully not have to go back into the "origins" aspect.

The book does end on a high and sets up the story in such a way that only good things can follow. I simply wish that there is less to compare in the sequel with already released superhero films/books/comics.

Being an Indian I especially liked the local touch the story gives to the characters and while it goes around the globe culminating in London, it stays true to the region where it is primarily set.

Turbulence makes for an interesting read and it might not be genre defining, but is a positive addition to the superhero genre that we are being bombarded with from all directions.

Turbulence is rated 3.5/5 Book Worms

        

WIN! A DVD and World Cinema Postcards

As promised here I am with my very first self funded (in a way) competition. Although I have followers from other countries, this competition is limited to participants from India only. It's a way for me to maybe gain more local followers and also it is cheaper considering the overseas postage charges.

So, just to start off, I am going to give away two prizes, yes I know I am very generous. They are somewhat unique and fun and not too expensive, yes I know I am very cheap.

First up is a DVD of the film DRAGON DYNASTY: Kingdom of the Fire Dragons. It's a bit of fantasy mixed with reality as a stone given to Marco Polo unleashes the gates to the dragon world releasing two dragons out to kill Marco. The film stars Federico Castelluccio, James Hong, and Stana Katic. The DVD is rated 15 for strong violence and is in Region 2 format.

The Second prize is a set of 6 HMV World Cinema Postcards. They make a great addition to your collection if you are a cinephile like me.

In order to win one of the above mentioned prizes you must guess the number of DVDs (and only DVDs) that I have in my collection? (Hint: If I wanted I could watch at least 1 movie each day for a year and a little bit more)

Once you have a number in your mind, you must also do only ONE of the following to be considered (if you already follow me, no need to do anything);

Follow my blog by clicking the FOLLOW button at the bottom right tab.

Follow TICKER on Facebook by clicking and liking HERE

Follow me on TWITTER by clicking HERE

Then simply EMAIL ME with your answer, SUBEJCT - Competition # 1, and which of the three Follows you have performed (Do let me know the ID you have used).

In case no one is able to guess the correct answer, I shall pick the closest number guessed. Also if more than one right answer is received, then I shall choose the two winners from those correct entries.

Now for some other T&Cs

This competition is valid in India only. The prizes will be delivered to an Indian address.

Incomplete entries will not be considered.

The final decision lies with the blog owner.

No cash alternatives will be given.

The prizes will be sent via post and we are not accountable for late/lost/damaged/stolen prizes.

The prizes cannot be substituted or refunded.

Only one entry per household will be considered.

The Competition ends on 6th August 2012 at 11:59 PM

Ticker Talks Film has the right to change/alter/cancel the above competition without notice.

The Winners will be contacted directly via email. 

Mission Impossible : Ghost Protocol

It's less complex than the first film. Now, I know complexity is not always a requirement for action films, nevertheless after the first installment I do expect a certain level of suspense and tension in this franchise.

It's action is not at par with Mission Impossible 2. Let's face it people, Brad Bird might have made some pretty amazing animations, but when it comes to action, John Woo is considered a legend and thus the action in the second installment of the franchise is simply outstanding.

It lacks a villain that can stand at parity with the hero of the film, Tom Cruise, something that we saw and appreciated in the third installment of the franchise with Philip Seymour Hoffman. True, Philip Seymour was so good in the movie that he pretty much overshadowed Tom Cruise and maybe, just maybe, that's why we have a villain who despite have plans of world domination is pretty lackluster and simply not as effective.

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is a pretty average fair for a movie. It has some great locations, although I don't believe most of the scenes of India were actually shot in India. The story is pretty slim with no real emotion, characterization, or even suspense and mystery.

I have to confess and say that the inclusion of Anil Kapoor in the cast was something I was really happy about and I was looking forward to his performance. What I saw was the complete opposite of what I wanted to see. His rather small cameo was how to put this gently...stupid! I can see the charm for any Indian actor to be part of the western film industry, and especially in a franchise like this, but at the cost of a role that brings nothing to the movie, or the character, or to the actors popularity beats the purpose altogether.

On the plus side, the action in the film is quite good. It might not be the best, nevertheless the action scenes set in Dubai was truly exhilarating and at some places even reminiscent of the rock climbing opening scene from Mission Impossible II.

The supporting cast of the film, which comprised of Simon Pegg and Paula Patton, is just that, a support for Tom Cruise. The only exception being Jeremy Renner who seems to be able to shine in any role he is given off late.

After the somewhat surprisingly good Mission Impossible III, Ghost Protocol comes as a disappointment. Its lack of a strong story and specifically strong characters makes it probably the worst film of the franchise so far. What the producers need to desperately do now is give the franchise a makeover that does not necessarily mean replacing Tom Cruise, but one which will hopefully take the story into a little bit darker territory.

Rating 2/5 Stars