Sagarika Bhattacharya, who inspired Rani Mukerji’s Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway, reacts to film’s trailer: ‘Felt like I was reliving my battle’

She added, “I want to thank Rani Mukerji for channeling the grief and struggles that I went through to win back my children. She is a mother herself and I thank her for bringing a mother’s painful journey on screen with so much dignity that I broke down while seeing her in the trailer.”

The children of Sagarika Bhattacharya were taken away from her by the Norwegian Child Welfare Services citing habits that are commonplace in Indian society. What followed was an over-a-year-long tussle for custody of her children, during which Norwegian authorities even claimed that she was ‘mentally unfit’ to raise two children.

The battle eventually caught attention of Indian and Norwegian media, with some calling it a ‘state-sponsored kidnapping’. With increasing publicity came diplomatic pressure. Then External Affairs Minister SM Krishna met his Norwegian counterpart in Oslo to seek a compromise on the matter and after lengthy negotiations, it was decided that the children’s custody will be awarded to a paternal uncle back in India, the 27-year-old dentist Arunabhas Bhattacharya.

Even then, Sagarika had to approach the Calcutta High Court for the custody of her children. In January 2013, Justice Dipankar Dutta ruled that Sagarika should get custody of the two children while allowing their uncle and grandfather to have visitation privileges.

Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway, directed by Ashima Chibbar, will release in theatres on March 17.