Aishwarya Rai Bachchan on Sarbjit: ‘This is a film that had to be made’

Sarbjit stars Rai Bachchan as Dalbir Kaur, the sister of Indian farmer Sarabjit Singh, who was convicted of spying and terrorism and put on death row in a Pakistani prison after wandering across the border into Pakistan in 1990.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan plays Dalbir Kaur in Sarbjit. Courtesy Grand Showbiz Media & Entertainment

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan – who on Sunday walked the red carpet at Cannes in an off-the-­shoulder Rami Kadi "May Blossom" gown and purple lipstick that set ­Twitter aflutter – chose a sober gold-and-black creation by celebrity Indian designer Rohit Bal for the screening of her new film, the biographical drama Sarbjit.

In cinemas from today, the film stars Rai Bachchan as Dalbir Kaur, the sister of Indian farmer Sarabjit Singh, who was convicted of spying and terrorism and put on death row in a Pakistani prison after ­wandering across the border into Pakistan in 1990.

At the Cannes premiere of the film, the 43-year-old actress talked to The National about the responsibility that came with taking the weighty role, and the political implications of the film.

Did you know much about Sarabjit Singh's story before you were offered the role?

I had an idea because 10 years ago I was asked to sign a petition to bring Sarabjit back to India. So I felt some kind of connection and responsibility – a natural and human one. I wanted to come on-board and be part of the narrative and share the family’s perspective with the world.

Has the family’s version of events not been publicly aired already?

There is a lot that is already documented by the media, as well as a few interactions with Dalbir, because she was reaching out to the media as she wanted her voice to reach the higher corridors of power, to be able to meet her brother and bring him back. But the other side, the family side, has not really been shared with the world in detail.

Did you meet Dalbir as part of your research before filming?

No. It was a conscious decision not to do so because for basic referencing by an actor to depict a personality, there already existed a lot of information in the media. So I didn’t feel the need to meet her for referencing. I wanted to meet her but only because her personality was of immense interest to me. She came down to the set in Mumbai, just after the film began shooting, so I was glad to have met her in person because there is some light that just shines when you meet her.

There are still many people who do not believe the family's story, and think Singh was a spy. What do you say to them?

It is not for us, as creative people who have come on-board, to tell people to play judge, so this is the story that I had heard before as well. Like I said, 10 years ago when the petition had reached me, this is the story that came to me. Now, when it presented itself as a film, I felt it had to be made. We have told the story from the perspective of what Dalbir has shared with Omung, and it is her family’s perspective of the trials that they went through, as individuals and as a family.

How was it playing someone in a film covering such a long period of their life?

Approaching it purely as an actor, it was an opportunity to ­essay 23 years of a person’s life, and a person who is going to be there and coming to view it. So I felt a conscious responsibility. It was important for me that at the end of this entire journey that the lady concerned and her family felt comfortable.

It has been noted that you are physically very different?

I knew that the first thing people would say is we are visually nothing like each other in terms of our physicality. She's a smaller lady and I'm a taller woman and her entire physical features are just so different. So I was very clear with the fact that when I play a real life character – I did it once before in Provoked, with Kiranjit Ahluwalia – that we clarify with the director and the world that this is a depiction and not a mirror-image of life.

The film calls for unity between India and Pakistan, in terms of showing each other respect, if nothing else. Was this important to you?

The call is something that we believe, of course. At the time when Sarabjit crossed over by mistake, in the fields the barbed wire didn’t even exist between the countries, so it just goes to show that you can barely tell the difference. We were once one nation. Standing at Wagah, on the border, I experienced the same love on the left and the right. People would come to the border and interact and you do wonder, on a human level, what is this all about and why?

• For our interview with Richa Chadda, who portrays Sarbjit’s wife in the film, visit www.thenational.ae/arts-life