A film from Sarabjit’s perspective is impossible to make: Omung Kumar

Filmmaker Omung Kumar explains why he decided to make Sarbjit from Dalbir Kaur’s perspective and not Sarabjit’s.

Filmmaker Omung Kumar’s recently-released film Sarbjit might be based on the life of the Indian resident who was convicted of terrorism and spying in Pakistan, but the film is from Sarabjit’s sister Dalbir Kaur’s (Aishwarya Rai) perspective.

Filmmaker Omung Kumar has also made Mary Kom. (Waseem Gashroo/HT)

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Omung explains that the film wouldn’t have been possible from Sarabjit’s perspective. “He (Sarabjit) was cut off from everyone. He did not have access to the outside world and he didn’t know what was going around him. My camera would have been stuck in that six feet by four feet jail, if I was trying to explain it from Sarabjit’s perspective. It wouldn’t have moved forward because we wouldn’t have any clue about what others are thinking about the situation. We wouldn’t know the jailer’s perspective or the lawyer’s perspective or what anyone else thought of the situation. It’s almost impossible to make a film from his perspective,” says Omung.

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The Mary Kom director adds that unavailability of content on Sarabjit was another reason why a film from the inmate’s opinion is difficult. “I was told the story by Dalbir. That’s why I decided to tell the story from her eyes. With Sarabjit, there is almost no content. Apart from a few letters that he wrote, a few photos of himself and some videos of him, there’s hardly anything on him. How does one take the story forward?” he says.

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