This Article is From Feb 21, 2017

Tannishtha Chatterjee Plays India's First Practising Lady Doctor In Biopic

Tannishtha Chatterjee Plays India's First Practising Lady Doctor In Biopic

Tannishtha had to learn Marathi and Gujarati for playing the protagonist

Highlights

  • 'She is a historic figure,' said Tannishtha
  • 'We have kept the language true to the character,' she said
  • 'When I read the biography I was blown away,' Tannishtha added
New Delhi: Actress Tannishtha Chatterjee will next be seen playing the titular role in the biopic of Doctor Rukhmabai, who was India's first practising lady doctor. The 36-year-old actress shared her experience of shooting for the biopic and said that she had to learn Marathi and Gujarati for playing the protagonist in the upcoming film, reported news agency PTI. Tannishtha also added that she was "blown away" by the story of Doctor Rukhmabai's life. The upcoming biopic requires Tannishtha to play various versions of the iconic figure - her young age, the time when she was a successful doctor and when she was old.

Tannishtha also referred to Doctor Rukhmabai as "the unsung hero." In an interview to PTI, Tannishtha said: "She is a historic figure, an unsung hero. It is sad nobody knows about her but she was India's first practising lady doctor. We need to celebrate it. When I read the biography I was blown away."

Tannishtha Chatterjee confessed that prepping for the film is one of the most difficult tasks she has managed so far, reported PTI. "This is one of the toughest things that I have done. It wasn't only about the age, I had to learn Marathi because the first half is in Marathi. It is multi-lingual. We have kept the language true to the character. When she is young, she speaks Marathi, she speaks English when she goes to England to study medicine, comes back, establishes a hospital in Gujarat and speaks Gujarati and Hindi. So I had to work on all the languages."

Tannishtha insisted that the story of Doctor Rukhmabai is inspiring and deserves to be told: "She fought all the stigmas, lived till she was 91 and went to hospital everyday till she was 90. She got married when she was 11 so she defied her child marriage. She fought a court case and the Age of Consent Act of 1891 was changed because of her case, from 12 years it was made 16 years. This life story deserves to be on screen," Tannishtha told PTI.

Tannishtha Chatterjee, star of films like Road, Movie Brick Lane, Hava Aney Dey and Shadows of Time will be directed by Anant Mahadevan in the biopic.

(With PTI Inputs)
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