Sara Ali Khan, who read History at Columbia University, sees lessons for today’s youth in the Indian freedom struggle. Her upcoming film, Ae Watan Mere Watan, is premiering on Prime Video on March 21. It 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 without the aid of hashtags and phones. It was organised by a band of inspired amateurs, led by Usha Mehta, a 22-year-old student and political activist from Bombay’s Wilson College. It’s 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...
Your producer Karan Johar has described Ae Watan Mere Watan as 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.
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 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.
Sara Ali Khan as Usha Mehta
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-glamourised in a khadi saree with a side-parting, waves and bindi. All of these details were geared towards making the world seem more true.
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.
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.
