Shooting in Petrozavodsk is a miracle: Tannishtha

New Delhi -  Actress Tannishtha Chatterjee says shooting for Joe Wright's "Anna Karenina" was a surreal experience in the northwestern Russian town of Petrozavodsk, where the  temperature plunges to -41 degrees Celsius in winter. She feels dealing with nature is much easier back home.

"It's a surreal experience. Everything turns into ice within seconds. To think of it, its colder than the freezer in our refrigerators," the dusky beauty said of the shoot in the town north of St.  Petersberg.

"The sun rises at around 10 a.m. and sets by 4p.m. Any naked skin gets frozen within seconds. In some of the pictures, I had to expose my lips and nose for a shot they had to be covered  immediately after," Tannishta said in a statement.

"How we shot in such conditions, that's a miracle. I had no idea of how it would be like. And now that I am here (back home), its real. So real that it is out of anyone's imagination," she added.

Tannishtha, who earned critical acclaim for films like "Brick Lane" and German movie "Shadows of Time", shot on a sledge for "Anna Karenina", which also stars Jude Law and Keira  Knightley.

The cold winds were extremely strong, but the actress had to expose her face at least if nothing else. She was given unique foot and hand warmers to battle the cold.

"After coming here, I realise how easy we have it. These guys here have to put in so much effort in fighting against nature. Everything gets 10 times tougher. The simplest of things take so much time...but what an adventure," she said.

Tannishtha says it is at such times she feels lucky she is an actor, adding: "...or where would I otherwise have such diverse experiences and travel to such amazing paces where civilisation  seems to exist at a different level."