New Delhi, Nov 5 (PTI) Actress Tannishtha Chatterjee says her upcoming film on Bhopal gas tragedy holds importance in today’s times even though the incident happened 30 years ago as it reminds people to be more socially responsible.
‘Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain’ is set amid the Bhopal gas disaster that occurred in 1984 and killed at least 3000 people.
“The story of Bhopal tragedy deserves to be told. This film is very important in today’s times. People have forgotten the incident and they need to be cautioned that safety and quality are compromised easily, something which happened during the gas leak.
“So it is important for all to know that we should not let a repeat of that tragedy to happen. The movie will warn people to not go blind in the name of profits,” Tannishtha told PTI.
The actress will be seen alongside Rajpal Yadav and Hollywood actors Kal Penn, Mischa Barton and Martin Sheen in the film, directed by Ravi Kumar.
Tannishtha, who plays Rajpal Yadav’s wife in the film, says that the humanness of her character is attractive and admirable.
“The film is told from the point of view of this poor family, where Rajpal and I play husband wife. My character is very human and simple. All she wants is a better life for her children. When her husband gets job in the factory, she hopes that they can can provide for their kids. There is also a lovely love story between the couple. The chemistry of these two is endearing,” she said.
Sheen plays American businessman Warren Anderson, who served as Chairman and CEO of the Union Carbide Corporation at the time of the Bhopal disaster. Anderson died in September this year.
Organisations working for welfare of survivors of the Bhopal gas tragedy have alleged that Anderson died unpunished and the actress says can empathise with their anger.
“People have been denied justice for 30 years, it is understandable they are angry that Anderson died unpunished.
But the man is dead now so nothing can be done about it. It is also fault of Indian bureaucracy and politics.”
The movie was originally slated for 2010 release but kept getting postponed. It is now releasing on December 5 this year.
Tannishtha while justifying the delay in the film’s release, said, “I am happy it is releasing now because it was not prepared earlier. There were a lot of things that needed to be done and in the end it was important that we all were satisfied with the product.
“Now, it is fully ready for a release so I don’t think we have lost on anything. Things take their own time to happen.” PTI PSH
