Hollywood legend Martin Sheen stars in Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain, alongside actors like Kal Penn, Mischa Barton, Tannishtha Chatterjee and Rajpal Yadav, which will release in India on December 5.
Sheen says he had hoped to be in India for the 30th anniversary of the Bhopal gas tragedy (on which the film is based), over December 2-3. However, the actor couldn’t make it because of the difficulty in obtaining a visa.
In a telephonic chat with this correspondent, Sheen confessed that Indian culture had influenced him in a profound way, so he was sad not to be able to visit.
“I was hoping to be in Bhopal for the 30th anniversary of the Bhopal tragedy. But I couldn’t because it takes a while to get a travel visa and I’ve another job here to attend to, which prevents me from coming to India.
But I hope to return soon. I am very comfortable in your culture. India is a nation of families, people are not committed to be on their own…” he said.
Incidentally, Sheen had visited India back in 1981, when he was working on the film Gandhi. “I was in India in 1981 for about six weeks with my son Emilio,” he says adding, “But I was only in Delhi and Porbandar.
I did visit Agra for the Taj Mahal. I also did the voiceover for a documentary on Kerala, but couldn’t see Kerala. The closest I got to it was Hyderabad, where we shot for Bhopal: A Prayer For Rain.”
