Sara Ali Khan discusses her film, and what GenZ could learn from this inspiring chapter of history
Ae Watan Mere Watan,
Y(Clockwise from right) Magic Mush cocktail; the interiors of Torii; jacket potato; dirty Torii sushi; and (left to right) Abhayraj Kohli, Gauri Khan and Tanaaz Bhatia. ara Ali Khan, who read History at Columbia University, sees lessons for today’s youth in the Indian freedom struggle. Her film, Ae Watan Mere Watan, that premiered on OTT this week, unfurls the fascinating history of Congress Radio, also known as Azad Radio, an underground radio station that stoked the heady flames of the Quit India Movement in 1942, fighting back imperial propaganda and mobilising the masses
Swithout the aid of hashtags and phones. It was organised by a band of inspired amateurs, led by Usha Mehta, a 22yearold student and political activist from Bombay’s Wilson College. It is Mehta’s spirit and ingenuity that Sara has attempted to embody in Ae Watan Mere Watan. “She was one of the countless female heroes who contributed to India’s freedom with their courage and sacrifice,” says the actor. Excerpts from an interview:
Question:
Your producer Karan Johar has described Ae Watan Mere Watan as a ‘GenZ 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
Answer:
of speech is encouraged and is a right that is 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.
Q:
As a History student, what aspects of Usha Mehta’s life did you find most invigorating?
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 ponder 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.
A: Q:
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 understood Hindi. This is not a biography but an ode to multiple unsung heroes from our past. The period design of the film is fairly accurate. We recreated the trams,
A:
the broadcast equipment, 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 deglammed in a khadi saree with a sideparting, waves and bindi. All of these details were geared towards making the world seem more true.
Q:
You have been acting for a while now. What’s your process of evaluating your own work?
I like to rewatch my performances. It’s important to see what I did right, what I did wrong. For instance, I received a lot of love for 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.
A: Q:
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 non fiction setting. I love physical books because I like to annotate. Recently, in fact, I was going to Jamnagar for Anant Ambani’s prewedding 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.
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The film is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video