CHENNAI: Sara Ali Khan is on a spree. She recently played a vivacious rich girl with a traumatic past in Homi Adajania’s whodunit Murder Mubarak. In just a week’s time, she has already donned khadi and is ready to play freedom fighter Usha Mehta in Ae Watan Mere Watan. In this free-wheeling chat, the actor reveals if she ever had a rebellious teen phase, her diverse choices of roles and where she would (hypothetically) hide the body if she ever committed a murder.
Excerpts:
You play the role of freedom fighter Usha Mehta in Ae Watan Mere Watan. When actors play a real-life character, how much of the character do they create on their own?
I think it depends on the kind of film one is doing. For Ae Watan… Kannan sir (director Kannan Iyer) was very clear. He didn’t want me to research too much on Usha Mehta because this is not a biopic. So even when Usha is a Gujarati, Kannan sir didn’t want me to have a Gujarati accent. He said that Ae Watan… is a film inspired by Usha’s story but is actually a tribute to all those unsung heroes of the freedom struggle.
There is a scene in the film where your character is rebelling against her father, who is a judge with the British government. Did you ever have a rebellious phase as a teenager?
I don’t think I was ever rebelling for the correct things (laughs). Honestly, I don’t think I was ever rebellious. Usha Mehta is rebelling against her father, a judge, and his pro-British ideology. On the other hand, I was born to very liberal, like-minded parents, so there was never a need for revolt.
How do you view authority?
I don’t believe in conformity. If I have a voice, if I have my individuality, then I don’t mind authority. I think it is important but not at the risk of stifling my voice. If you are given the right amount of scope for your soul and for your voice to flourish, then you should adhere to a little bit of authority, that’s not bad, I think.
Do you think the current generation can have a similar rebellious attitude against authority as how our freedom fighters had?
Have you heard the term ‘rebel without a cause’? More than rebellion, it’s the cause that matters. We are very privileged in 2024. We are not subjugated by British colonial powers. So, if anybody wants to protest like how our freedom fighters did, if somebody wants to have their own ‘Bharat Chodho Andolan’ (Quit India Movement), then who will you be revolting against? I think the question that needs to be asked is what we are rebelling against, rather than whether we will rebel or no
You seem to be doing vastly different roles. There is Bambi Todi in Murder Mubarak, a freedom fighter in Ae Watan… and then there is Metro… In Dino, which is a love story. Is there an attempt to not let the audience get fixed on one image of Sara Ali Khan?
Versatility is my only endeavour. I want to do everything and everything differently. As an actor, it is a privilege to play different characters and enact the life of people like Usha Mehta, who was a celibate, a freedom fighter who braved death. As an actor, your job is to keep reinventing things. In Murder Mubarak, I am playing a glamorous role whereas in Ae Watan… the role is devoid of any glam. In the film I am not loud or vivacious, I am more subtle. Both these emotions are part of me and it is time to show that to the audience.
Here is a whacky question related to Murder Mubarak. If you were a murderer, would you be a planned one or somebody who kills someone in a fit of rage?
Oof! I don’t know. I think planning a murder would require a lot of rage, I don’t think I have that. I think maybe it will be something like in the spur of the moment, I might just get angry and throw something at someone.
Ever thought of a weapon of choice?
Looks?
Seriously?
Ok, ok, a gun
Where would you hide the body?
Under a building, I guess.
Is this from Drishyam?
(Laughs) Yeah! I was just wondering where I took it from.
Your brother Ibrahim Ali Khan will soon be making his acting debut with Sarzameen, any word of advice for him?
Don’t lose your sense of self. I always follow that.