This was an unfortunate incident, a genocide whose victims are still waiting for justice: Harry Sachdeva

Based on a true story, of a Sikh family in Delhi and their account of that fateful day, when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated, the release of 31st October was meant to coincide with 30 years of the pogrom of 1984 last year.

“But it didn’t happen, and it took me all this time to do endless rounds of the Censor Board, and convince them to release our film,” said Sachdeva, adding how even during the shooting, his set was vandalised at Ghungrana village near Chandigarh and they had to seek police protection.
After nine major cuts, mainly of ‘politicians instigating the mob and acts of violence’,
the board finally issued an A certificate.

The film is set to release pan-India and worldwide this October 7. Starring Vir Das and Soha Ali Khan and directed by Shivaji Lotan Patil, Sachdeva along with music director Vijay Verma, co-producer Anand Prakash and Soha stopped by the city to talk about the film and launch its music.
Clearly a project close to Sachdeva’s heart, the writer-producer softly shares his memories of that dark night, when he had to make a braid, dress up as a girl and go in hiding for three days.

“This was an unfortunate incident, a genocide whose victims are still waiting for justice. For me, this film is a medium to tell the people of this part of history, raise questions and ask the government for some answers. We’ve made it with a positive message, one that urges people not to get opinionated or exploited by someone with an agenda,” said Sachdeva.

Soha nods her head in agreement. Playing a Sikh woman, mother of three for the first time on silver screen, this was a challenging role with a strong emotional quotient, a real-life character she “was in agreement in, and one she had to present with respect and responsibility”.

“It still disturbs me when I read about such events, especially when my mother told me that our village Pataudi in Haryana saw the killings of all male members of 13 Sikh families and a gurdwara being burnt down on 31st October, 1984,” said Soha, adding how the film would hopefully generate discussion and caution people not to repeat the mistakes of history.

According to her, this was not a riot. “A riot takes place between two communities. What happened in 1984, was an attack on a community, and it was not impulsive or natural and the people, especially the youth, need to know, have it in their history books, for cinema alone can’t teach history,” she said.

It’s a story that has its roots in the Widows Colony in Delhi, where Sachdeva met many families and finally found one that narrated both sides of the coin. “If Sikhs were attacked, there were Hindus who helped them too. For instance, Nobel Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi told me how he saved three Sikh girls by hiding them in his house,” said Sachdeva.

Already received well at three film festivals recently in Toronto, Vancouver and London, the film is what Soha believes to be a fine balance between commercial and parallel, and content-driven.

“Which is what I want to pursue at my production house, Renegade films,” said the actress-turned producer, and all set to do a romantic film early next year.