‘This film is not a documentation’

In the long list list of Hollywood actors touching down in India to shoot on subjects with an Indian theme is Misha Barton who has now replaced British actress Sienna Miller in Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain. Joining her will be Martin Sheen.
To be made by the London-based filmmaker Ravi Kumar, who hails from Bhopal, the film centres around the Bhopal gas tragedy ��� the result of a chemical spillage that happened in the city on December 3, 1984, killing thousands of people.
Also part of the film are Indian actors Tannishtha Chatterjee, known for her role in Brick Lane, and Rajpal Yadav. Scripted by Ravi Kumar, who wants to wait for a while before he starts talking about the film, and David Brooks, the film revolves around a young rickshaw-puller in Bhopal who gets a job at a chemical plant in the city and how the gas tragedy changes his life and those of many others.
When contacted, Tannishtha, confirmed she is part of the film. ���Yes, Rajpal and I play a couple whose life is shattered by what happens on that particular night when disaster struck. I���m really looking forward to this role. I loved the script, it���s something I believe in completely.��� The film, she says, ���will deal with what really happened that night and the politics that the family falls prey to after that.��� It will be shot not just in Bhopal but also in Hyderabad and should start sometime in September, says the actress.
While she understands that in today���s world people are looking for entertainment, ���we shouldn���t turn our backs on and ignore tragedies like this,��� she says. In 1984, when the gas tragedy happened in Bhopal, Tannishtha says she was a kid and didn���t understand the enormity of it all at the time. ���But I do so now and have been reading quite a bit about the Bhopal tragedy and its aftermath,��� she informs.
While Yadav and she play the Indian couple, Martin Sheen plays the part of the owner of Union Carbide that was responsible for the spillage and Misha Barton is doing the role of a journalist in the film. ���But I must also stress that nobody is being painted as black or white. As characters in the film do what they are supposed to do at that point of time, their actions are dictated by circumstances. I guess, giving this kind of a picture is going to be tough but that���s what the film is all about,��� says Tannishtha. ���The idea is to recreate the emotional content of the tragedy. It���s not a documentation ��� and that is what must be kept in mind when one goes to see the film,��� she adds.