The death of Warren Anderson, former CEO of Union Carbide who was held responsible for the death of thousands during what infamously came to be known as the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, died on September 29.
The sudden death of the controversial figure puts a question mark on the film A Prayer For The Rains, the film on the Bhopal gas tragedy featuring Martin Sheen as Anderson, which is all set for a December release.
In the light of Anderson’s death the film’s ending is likely to be altered. While no one was ready to make any official statements on the film, off the record, a source reveals, Warren is portrayed as a pure villain in the film. That may have to be toned down.”
Apparently Martin Sheen insisted on playing Warren as an unmitigated villain. Says the director Ravi Kumar, “Right since the time Martin agreed to play the controversial character and did a secret recce of Bhopal and Hyderabad, he was clear that the character must be shown as purely culpable in the script.”
Says Ravi, “You’ll be shocked to know that I wanted to humanise Warren Anderson’s character and make him seem a victim of an organisation rather than an individual error of judgment.
But Martin insisted on playing Anderson as black rather than grey. He protested and made me realise that there’s no point in making a film on such a ghastly human tragedy if we dilute the truth.
We couldn’t take a legal view in the script, but we have taken a very strong moral stand against what happened.”
