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National Award-winning director Omung Kumar’s upcoming biopic ‘Sarbjit’ starring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Randeep Hooda, Richa Chadda and Darshan Kumar has already created quite a buzz among fans courtesy of it’s emotionally moving posters. The film will be narrated through Sarbjit’s sister Dalbir Kaur’s eyes, who went door to door, knocking for her brother’s justice and freedom for twenty-three years.
Opening up on the look of his lead actress, Aishwarya, the director shared that one of his biggest challenge was to make Aishwarya not look like Aishwarya. With that thought he decided to start the film with the final look and recalls that when the actress looked into the mirror to see a woman with grey hair, wrinkles and glasses staring back, even she exclaimed in amazement for her unbelievable appearance.
Talking about it further he said, “Maybe one day I will make a film that will showcase the beautiful woman Ash is, but Sarbjit was a film that went beyond looks and glamour to focus on grit. My biggest triumph was when fans came to the Wagah Border or the India Gate for Ash’s autograph and failing to recognize her, would start looking around for her,” he laughs.
“In the film one might see Ash as a young, carefree girl, happily married and pregnant, before some personal tragedies slowly bleach out the colors from her face, clothes and the backdrop. The eight months when she has no idea what happened to her brother, add lines of worry which get deeply entrenched when she learns his whereabouts. Struggling to keep the family together, Dalbir starts to grey, and when brother and sister finally meet in prison, they comment on how their baal has turned safed,” points out the director.
Sharing on Dalbir’s reaction after looking at Aishwarya in her avatar, he admits that she was happy the khoobsurat Aishwarya was playing her, but they weren’t similar physically. “Dalbir is short and small, Ash is taller. But unless you are making a film on an iconic figure like Gandhi or Nehru, you can take such creative liberties. For me it was important to replicate the mannerisms and attitude, not the look, and transform the actress completely. That’s what makes Sarbjit my film,” he asserts.
