Richa’s part in Sarbjit was exactly what was narrated to her, saysy director OmOmung Kumar
Actor Richa Chadha recently said that she felt “misused” in Omung Kumar’s 2016 film Sarbjit, and that she “regretted” taking up the role, which was of Sukhpreet, the wife of Sarbjit (played by Randeep Hooda), the Indian man captured in Pakistan and killed in jail. The film’s story was told from the perspective of his sister Dalbir Kaur (played by Aishwarya Rai Bachchan), who spent over two decades trying to free him.
In response, Omung tells us, “Richa was given the part that was narrated to her and everything was the same. It’s just blown out of proportion... I told her, ‘The last [part] of the whole film is on you.’ While narrating, [Richa] was told that she had [only] three-four dialogues, but her eyes would speak, and that was exactly what was given to her.” This week, the acclaimed film clocks two years since its release.
Despite Richa’s regrets, the director is all praise for her performance. Omung, who had won a National Film Award in 2015 for the boxing biopic Mary Kom, says that Richa’s performance had left everyone on the sets of Sarbjit spellbound. The subsequent award nominations for Richa a validated the weight of the role and the actor’s work, he adds.
“I’m very proud of what she has done in the film,” says Omung. “She got nominated everywhere. If there was a Best Supporting Actor category [at any award wd event], she got nominated for that. I think she has performed fabulously in the film.”
While complimenting Richa, the filmmaker says that it pains him to think that Randeep wasn’t nominated for an award for Sarbjit. “You don’t know how much it hurts us,” says Omung. “This performance was Randeep’s lifetime’s best. People nominated Richa and Aishwarya, so Randeep had to be a part of nominations... but he was not, and I’m very vocal about it, because I think it’s not fair. no other actor could have given what Randeep did.”