Such a Long Journey: ‘Lajwanti’ to premiere soon

I really wanted to make a film on this timeless love story of separation, love and loyalty. But wherever I took the script, it was turned down for being too bold or that it would resurface the wounds of Partition.”

Fifteen years later, Datta narrated the story, of a husband and wife post Partition, to Zee TV’s head of programming Ajay Bhalwankar. He took it up. “Lajwanti is a short story that captures the relationship between Sunder Lal and his wife, Lajwanti. It’s also a story that has no definite ending and my grandfather left it open for interpretation. The beauty of his works is that one could read so much between the lines, and that’s what I’ve explored with Lajwanti,” says Datta.

She describes Lajwanti as a progressive and contemporary character, a woman who is separated from her husband during Partition, has to live with another man across the border, and finally is sent back home after Partition.

While Sid Makkar will be playing the educated city dweller Sunder Lal, Chandigarh’s Ankita Sharma will be essaying the role of the spirited village girl, Lajwanti. Datta, meanwhile, has also wrapped up her script for the biopic on hockey legend Dhyan Chand and is now working on a contemporary version of Ek Chadar Maili Si.