Alice of Monsoon Wedding is back

Remember the shy demure maidservant Alice of the Oscar-nominated Mira Nair film Monsoon Wedding? Well,the girl who played the role,Tilottama Shome,is back. She will soon be seen in Alankrita Srivastava’s debut film Turning 30. A chick-flick,it has Tilottama playing Malini,a Bohemian,artsy girl,who dresses eclectically,which is a far cry from her debut role. Says Tilottama,who disappeared after Monsoon …,”I was very young when I did Monsoon… Most of the roles offered to me then were that of a maidservant,which was boring.” So,instead of taking up these roles,the actress decided to go to New York and do a course in acting. She won herself the prestigious INLAKS scholarship and even started teaching theatre there. Meanwhile,the scene in Mumbai started changing and many independent filmmakers started coming in. Tilottama decided that it was right time to make a come-back. Alankrita,who was a year junior to Tilottama while studying in a Delhi-based college,got in touch with her and Tilottama was more then happy to be a part of the film. “It was interesting that a woman was making her debut with a film about three girls and produced by Prakash Jha,who is known for his male-dominated politically-inclined films,” quips Tilottama. Besides Turning 30,Tilottama has done Italo Spinelli’s Gangor,based on Mahashweta Devi’s novel and has her playing a social worker. The film is currently big on the festival circuit and got a standing ovation at the Rome International Film festival. She also played the lead in Abhishek Pathak’s 2010 National Award-winning film Boond. She is also part of Owais Hussain’s untitled film as well as a Indo-Spanish production Flamenco In Bollywood co-starring Penelope Cruz’s twin sister Monica Cruz. The film has her playing an Indian nautch girl. Obviously her stint in NY University is doing her a world of good.

chaya.unnikrishnan@expressindia.com