A South Asian story

Adapted from Brick Lane, Monica Ali’s critically acclaimed book, Seven Seas is a British film about people of Bangladeshi origin with an Indian cast, writes Saibal Chatterjee

Cinema has the power to travel across distances and cultures. So it isn’t unusual for a British film with an Indian cast and London neighbourhood locations to be about people of Bangladeshi origin.

That is exactly what a Channel Four-Film Council of UK co-production, tentatively titled Seven Seas and directed by debutante Sarah Gavron, happens to be.

Adapted from Monica Ali’s critically acclaimed and bestselling Brick Lane, the film narrates the story of a 17-year-old rustic, unlettered, middle class Bangladeshi girl, Nazneen, who lands in England as the bride of Chanu, a Londoner who is 20 years older.

The storyline follows Nazneen’s growth all the way up to the age of 35, by which time she, a mother of three children, is ready for full-fledged independence from the two men in her life, the other being Karim, a young Muslim radical the female protagonist has an adulterous affair with.

The film brings together three actors from disparate sources. Delhi girl Tannishtha Chatterjee is a National School of Drama alumnus, Satish Kaushik is a well-known Bollywood comedian and filmmaker and Christopher Simpson is a London-based actor earlier seen in the Farrukh Dhondy-scripted Exitz and the Michael Winterbottom-directed Code 46. The film provoked angry reactions from a section of England’s Bangladeshi community, leading to street protests and forcing the crew to relocate the shoot.

This happened despite the fact that most of the film, according to lead actress Tannishtha Chatterjee, was shot in utter secrecy and the actors were under oath not to talk about the film until it was fully in the cans.

"In fact, the title Seven Seas," says Tannishtha, "was chosen in order not to let people know that the film was an adaptation of Brick Lane." The final cut of the film is likely to be released with the title of the book. Brick Lane is the third international feature of Tannishtha’s nascent but already eventful acting career.

When she was adjudged the Best Actress at Osian’s Cinefan – 8th Festival of Asian Cinema in July for her performance as a high-society hooker in Subrata Sen’s Bengali-language film, Bibar, Tannishtha was away in London, fleshing out the lead role in Brick Lane.

Tannishtha has also played lead roles in Partha Sengupta’s Indo-French co-production Hawa Aaney Dey (Let the Wind Blow) and the German-made Shadows of Time. "The British film," Tannishtha reveals, "is now in post-production and is likely to be ready for distribution early next year."

The shoot, she adds, took over two months, and that was preceded by a four-week workshop that was conducted to help the cast members familiarise themselves with the nuances of the Bangladeshi expatriate community that Monica Ali’s novel depicts.

The screen adaptation deviates from the novel only to the extent of incorporating political issues of contemporary relevance. Says Tannishtha: "The film paints a portrait of the post-9/11 world through a deeply human story."

Alison Owen of Ruby Films has produced the Brick Lane adaptation. Owen is an independent producer whose credits include big-ticket releases like Shekhar Kapur’s Elizabeth, John Madden’s Proof, inspired by the life of mathematician John Nash, and Christine Jeff’s Sylvia, which delves into the tumultuous relationship between Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes.

The adaptation of Brick Lane has Satish Kaushik playing Chanu and Christopher Simpson in the role of Karim. Simpson is a non-Asian actor of Irish and Greek-Rwandan parentage. He is often seen in British cinema and television playing characters of subcontinental origin.

Tannishtha is all praise for Kaushik’s commitment and talent. "The director, having seen some of his Bollywood work, was a little apprehensive to begin with, but Satish slipped into the skin of his character with marvellous felicity," says the actress.

"It really helps when you work with such fine co-actors," says Tannishtha. "Our characters evolved through constant discussion all the way through the shoot. When you have committed actors around you, you are forced to raise your own bar."

"I landed the role of Brick Lane’s Nazneen after three rounds of screen tests," says Tannishtha. That indeed was also the route that fetched her the lead role in the cross-generational love saga, Shadows of Time, a Bengali film crafted by Oscar-winning German director, Florian Gallenberger.

Shadows of Time, which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival last year, is now ready for release in India.