‘A big deal.’ Sara Ali Khan says dad Saif cried after watching ‘Atrangi Re’, grandmom Sharmila Tagore was flooded with congratulatory messages

In Aanand L Rai’s latest film, ‘Atrangi Re’ actress Sara Ali Khan plays the role of Rinku Sooryavanshi, a woman who is scarred by childhood abandonment and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) leading to memory distortion and other severe mental health problems. It was a difficult role to portray for the actress and while critics and fans are divided over Khan’s performance, for her family it has been a revelation seeing her transformation into a Bihari-speaking and profanity-hurling woman on screen.

In an interview to Bollywood Hungama, earlier this week, the 26-year-old actress revealed that her pitaji (father, Saif Ali Khan) was so moved by her latest performance that he cried after watching ‘Atrangi Re’, and her badi ammi (grandmother, Sharmila Tagore) has received heaps of messages singing her praise, for her portrayal of Rinku.

Khan revealed, “My grandmother, badi amma, watched the movie and she loved it. My father cried when he watched my performance. These are big things for me, these are not things that have happened every time. This is perhaps the first time that I have made my father (pitaji) cry, and my dadi is receiving 10 to 15 messages regarding this film. So, for me, this is a very big victory.”


The actress, who is currently basking in the afterglow of the praises she has received for her latest film, said that the outpouring of messages from the industry colleagues have been very overwhelming as everybody had ‘kind things’ to say to her and to film-maker Aanand L. Rai about the film.

“However, what is even more touching is the fact that people are messaging my father and grandmother about my performance. The fact that they are going out of their way to message my grandmother, that’s a big deal,” she added.

The actress, who started her career with ‘Kedarnath’ revealed that this was the first time her father believed that she had transmogrified into the character she was playing on screen and called it ‘a big compliment’.

“When my father saw the film, he said that for the first time he didn’t see Sara, he just saw Rinku. That’s a big compliment. I know that I have a very strong personality, be it in interviews, or Instagram or onscreen. It gets difficult to divorce Sara from the character she is playing and I feel that people nearest and dearest to me have seen the fact that Aanand ji has very beautifully managed to use Sara to portray Rinku, while giving Rinku her own characteristics,” said the actress.

Khan said that although her personality is far removed from her onscreen character, there are subtle similarities between her and Rinku.

“Rinku and I are very different and the trajectory of our lives are very different. I have a stronger support system than she does. However, the fact that we are both ultimately vulnerable people, who hide their vulnerability in the guise of confidence, is something I find similar to Rinku,” said the ‘Simmba’ actress.

In the film, Rinku is raised in a broken family, and suffers from severe loneliness and depression. When the interviewer asked if Khan channelled her own experiences of growing up in a broken home to play Rinku’s character, Khan was quick to correct him as she said, “More than a broken home, the way I see it is that I come from two homes. So, I do not really carry the burden of loneliness. I have had a lot of support from my mother, and my father. Therefore, I have never had any reason or scope for rebellion.”