On ‘Ae Watan Mere Watan’, books and freedom of speech

The actor discusses her upcoming film, ‘Ae Watan Mere Watan’, and what the Gen-Z could learn from this chapter of the Indian national struggle

Your producer Karan Johar has described Ae Watan Mere watanas a ‘Gen Z Story’ Could you expand?

It’s a parallel we have drawn between the current generation and the youngsters who banded together and fought for India’s freedom. Their slogan was Karo Ya Maro (do or die). Obviously, the stakes are different today. We are a free, democratic nation, having overcome things like international subjugation and colonialism, but we need to have our voice. We are very lucky to live in a country where freedom of speech is encouraged and is a right given to us. So I think standing up for what you believe in, not just politically but socially, environmentally or at your workplace, is important.

When we think of bravery, we think of a physically strong, masculine figure, but there can be emotional and mental fortitude and a degree of femininity that is needed in strength, which is what Usha Mehta embodies. She raised the tricolour at Gowalia Tank Maidan (now August Kranti Maidan), from where the Quit India Movement was launched. She was a Gandhian and a brahmachari (celibate). It’s a level of sacrifice to wonder about... when your love for the country, desh prem, is so overwhelming that there’s no scope for any other kind of love or distraction in your life.

This is your first period film. A pitfall of the genre is that, sometimes, the performances begin to reflect the mannerisms in the movies of that era...

I tried to watch no films of the 1940s. We didn’t have much archival footage of Usha Mehta to go on. I decided not to have a Gujarati accent although she was Gujarati. The language of the film is easily understandable Hindi. This is not a biography but an ode to multiple unsung heroes of the Indian national struggle. The period design of the film is fairly accurate. We recreated the trams, the broadcast equipment, and the charkhas (spinning wheels) ...we shot in real locations around Horniman Circle Gardens in South Mumbai. Unlike Hindi film heroines of the past, I was de-glamorized in a khadi saree with a side-parting, waves and bindi. All of these details were geared towards making the world seem more true.

As a History student, what aspects of Usha Mehta’s life did you find most invigorating?

The last time we spoke, you were reading Flaubert’s Madame Bovary. What are you reading right now? Also, do you prefer paperbacks or the Kindle?

I’m reading a book called ‘Sophie’s World’ by Jostein Gaarder. I’ve read it before but it’s just so amazing to revisit. It has little bits of different philosophies, all woven in a fiction versus nonfiction setting. It’s a beautiful book. I love physical books because I like to annotate. Recently, in fact, I was going to Jamnagar for Anant Ambani’s pre-wedding celebrations and it was really funny because my father and I were the only two people on the flight with our books and our pencils. My brother had headphones on and went off to sleep.

You have been acting for a while now. What’s your process of evaluating your own work?

I like to re-watch my performances. It’s important to see what I did right, and what I did wrong. I have always believed I am in this profession for the love of my audience. For instance, I received a lot of love for Atrangi Re (2021) and Zara Hatke Zara Bachke(2023). So it was useful to go back and see what clicked. But having said that, as an actor, I’m beginning to realise more and more the importance of unlearning. It’s important to come to each new set with a clean slate because each director has their own process and each character is different. Bambi Todi from Murder Mubarak and Usha Mehta from Ae Watan don’t have anything in common. To get into the skin of both these characters, with equal conviction on different sets at the same time, was tricky. It takes objectivity, unlearning and surrender.

Sara Ali Khan grew up in a single parent household as her parents, Amrita Singh and Saif Ali Khan, divorced when she was quite young. In a recent interview, while promoting her upcoming film Ae Watan Mere Watan, Sara spoke about her mother and said that she was unlike any of her friend’s parents when she was growing up. And while Sara saw it as something that she was missing, she soon realised that it was a blessing.

Talking to Galatta India, Sara said that her mother doesn’t know how to cook or drive, and she saw it as something that was missing in her life until one day, her mother gave her a befitting answer that changed Sara’s perspective on everything. “While growing up, my mom was unlike any of my other friend’s moms. She doesn’t know how to drive and she doesn’t know how to cook. So I used to feel very bad. Till one day she turned around and said, ‘how many of your friend’s parents know how to act and ride horses? Because I do’. And I was like I am literally never saying anything to the heroine of

Mard ever again,” she recalled. Sara continued, “Because I suddenly was like ‘she knows her business’. But I think that my mom is just the best, like in the world.” Sara said that her mother made sure that her brother Ibrahim and her never felt like they were missing anything. “She has never made Ibrahim and me feel like we might lack anything. She has given us wings to fly. She has also been our grounding factor to make sure we don’t fly too high. She has been my mirror. She has been my inspiration and she has done it all single handedly. I have a lot more support from a lot more people than my mother ever had growing up and if she has reached where she has, I better get 1/10th of the way. And if I get 1/10th of the way, I’m home,” she said.