Leicester born actress, Fagun Thakrar speaks to Pukaar News about her latest role starring alongside Martin Sheen in Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain.
Fagun, who lives in Oadby also spoke of her memories living in Leicester and how she switched from becoming a medical doctor to a career in acting.
“I love coming back to Leicester, this is where I grew up, its like oh I can go to the same places and my family are all here so its really nice to be back home”.
Her latest film Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain, is a historical drama set amidst the real life Bhopal disaster which happened in India 30 years ago. Thousands of people were killed when poisonous gas from a pesticide plant run by Union Carbide, leaked into the air. It was and still is one of the world’s worst industrial disaster.
Fagun plays a young widow carrying the emotional burden of the loss of her husband, who was the first casualty of the Union Carbide gas leak. Her character, Rekha was inspired by the haunting and iconic image of the green-eyed Afghan girl that was first published in the National Geographic in the 1980s.
She describes her characters journey, “You see how her life goes from this much admired life to one of grief and desperation and you see how she has to struggle to survive, and she represents all the silent sufferers of the people of Bhopal”.
She also talks about what is was like working with Hollywood star, Martin Sheen, “he’s a incredible actor and also a wonderful human being, and just watching him take after take, you just learn so much by watching him perform”.
