New Delhi: They make for an interesting trio, that's for sure. Actor Rajpal Yadav, earthy, unaffected and grounded; actress Tannishtha Chatterjee, rooted yet glamorous; and director Ravi Kumar, dressed in a simple pink Lacoste shirt and khaki pants.
In the city to promote their upcoming film 'Bhopal: A Prayer For Rain' the actors as well as the filmmaker didn't seem tired of answering the constant barrage of questions by the media. Finding a quiet corner to sit, Yadav began, "Let me first lay the groundwork for the discussion on the film. Once you understand that, we may discuss anything you like," he said with visible excitement.
Yadav explains that the film is not a tragic or a sad spectacle throughout. "Yes, the film is based on the greatest man-made disaster in history, but you have to understand that the people who worked there, the children who slept in their beds that night, had no idea that this day would be their last," he says earnestly.
Kumar, who speaks in a meticulous, succinct manner, says, "I am from Bhopal. I have lived and experienced the way that disaster changed everything for all of us."
With a stellar star cast including Yadav, Chatterjee, as well as Hollywood actors Mischa Barton, Martin Sheen and Kal Penn, Kumar says that he took extra pain to make sure that he captured the essence of progressive, ambitious India of the 1980s.
Veteran Hollywood actor Sheen plays the role of Warren Anderson, the then chairman and CEO of the Union Carbide Corporation, who died in September while living as a fugitive from justice at Vero Beach, Florida.
Sheen, a multiple Emmy and Golden Globe winner who also featured in the Academy-winning film 'Gandhi' with Ben Kingsley, was Kumar's only choice given his political beliefs and his legendary status as an actor, Kumar had said to IANS in an earlier interview.
Rather than portray Anderson as an outright villain, the film comes out showing him as a jovial capitalist more concerned about the company's bottom line and legal liabilities than the safety of the plant taking advantage of India's laxer regulations. "Yet no one in the audience has come out of cinema feeling sympathetic about Anderson. Everyone thinks Anderson did a wrong thing", says Kumar.
Talking about the international star cast as well as the grand sets and production quality of the film, Kumar says, "I wanted this film to be of an international scale and quality -- but make no mistake, it is an entertaining film. In fact, it not only entertains you, it engages you." He compares his film to James Cameron's 'Titanic'. "We all knew what was going to happen at the end. But the film was still entertaining," he says.
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