Actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who stars in “Sarbjit”, a biopic on Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh, arrived in Punjab on Wednesday for the shooting of the film.
In the Omung Kumar-directed movie, the 42-year-old actor plays the role of Sarabjit’s sister Dalbir Kaur, while actor Randeep Hooda will be seen in the titular role.
“Aishwarya Rai was accompanied by her mother-in-law Jaya Bachchan, film’s director and producer Sandeep Singh,” Dalbir said over phone today.
The film is slated to release on May 20. It will be shot in various cities of Punjab including Amritsar, Malerkotla and Patiala.
Dalbir said that she hopes the film captures the plight of prisoners lodged in various jails across the border.
“I hope the biopic will highlight the plight of Indian prisoners lodged in various jails in Pakistan,” said Dalbir Kaur, who struggled for years to get her brother out of the Pakistani prison.
Sarabjit died after a brutal attack by jail inmates in a Pakistani jail in 2013. He was convicted of terrorism and spying by a Pakistani court and sentenced to death in 1991 but the government had stayed his execution for an indefinite period in 2008.
His sister and family started a campaign for his release saying he was the victim of mistaken identity and had inadvertently strayed across the border in an inebriated state.
“When I was fighting to secure Sarabjit’s release, I wanted that a film should be made on him so that the issue gets the world’s attention and people and the government across the border also understands the facts as they stand,” she said.
About Aishwarya playing the role, Dalbir said, “She is the right choice. I came to know that while shooting a scene for the film earlier, she turned emotional.
“My only concern is that reality should be portrayed in the film, which I have been assured of. People should know about the issue and this film will show the kind of person Sarabjit was and what happened to him”.
