Interview with Sacha Dhawan, who plays Sathnam Sanghera
Interview with Sacha Dhawan, who plays Sathnam Sanghera in The Boy With The Topknot.
Published: 7 November 2017
I was a little apprehensive because I thought, is this going to be another story about an Indian family and arranged marriage? But the book is so much more complex and rich and current
How did you get involved with The Boy With The Topknot?
I was filming Iron Fist in New York when I heard that the BBC had announced the drama and thought straight away, I’m going to get seen for that! So I bought the book straight away, read it and absolutely loved it.
I was a little apprehensive to start with because I thought, is this going to be another story about an Indian family and arranged marriage? But the book is so much more complex, rich and current - I loved it and I thought, I’ve got to get seen for this so as soon as I got back to the UK. I self-taped for it and it came to fruition!
The producer Nisha said that when she was growing up, she felt as though there weren’t many stories on TV that she could identify with that were a realistic portrayal of the British Asian experience, and so she really hopes this drama will offer that. Do you feel the same?
Yes. Because The Boy With The Topknot is a true story there are so many specific details that are true, current, accurate and haven’t been made up. Yes the story is about an Indian family but what I connected with was this idea of family and the fact that sometimes we don’t talk openly about things, we don’t really understand our past and, more importantly, we don’t really see our parents as individual human beings.
Like with me, I just see my mum and dad as parents - I don’t see my dad individually as a man, my mum individually as a woman. This story touches upon that, which is what I was drawn to and I could relate to with my own parents. It’s shocking when you start to grow up and realise that your parents had a life before you! But why would you? Sometimes you don’t really have a need to. Obviously in Sathnam’s case he uncovers something very important with regards to his father which makes him confront his past.
So tell us about Sathnam - have you met him and how has it been to play a real person?
As soon as I got the part, the first thing that I wanted to do was meet Sathnam. For two reasons: firstly to understand him and understand his story from his point of view, but also just to get his blessing! As much as The Boy With The Topknot is Sathnam Sanghera’s story, it’s also become our story as well. This drama isn’t just representing everything that’s in the book; we had to put our own stamp on it and I wanted to get Sathnam’s blessing for that.
The thing I wanted to understand with Sathnam was his intellect, because damn that guy is smart! My brain doesn’t work as fast as his, so that’s what I had to work on - understanding his mind a bit more and his thirst for knowledge and facts and figures.
He’s been great. If I flip it round and he was playing me I think I’d find it a bit strange, but he’s just been so brilliant and a great source of knowledge, I’ve absolutely loved playing him. You spend so much time with a character when you’re filming - and also the family and the story which I connect to personally - and then that’s it, it’s finished, you just let it go and that’s going to be a bit strange!
What’s it been like to work with Anupam Kher and Deepti Naval?
That’s another thing I was really excited about with this project. I love the fact that Nisha [Parti, the producer] and her team were thinking outside the box in terms of casting - it’s not easy to get Indian actors over here and I loved the fact that they were getting the real deal!
I was so excited to work with Anupam (who’s done over 500 films!) and Deepti Naval. I knew straight away it was going to be exciting, but when we started doing scenes and, particularly the more complex, emotional scenes, they were just amazing. They speak fluent Punjabi in a lot of the drama, which you don’t really get to see on British TV that often.
It's an exciting time at the moment for Indian actors and I’m really proud to be a part of this change that’s happening, with more individual stories being represented.
What do you think audiences will get from this drama?
Well it’s like what I was saying before about my initial instinct when I heard about the project - “Oh is this going to be about arranged marriages in Indian families? Is it going to be stereotypical?” - but what audiences are going to get from it is that it’s not just about an Indian family.
It’s about two things: firstly the fact that mental illness is very broad, you can’t just put a label on it, it’s very specific to that individual. Secondly it’s about our relationships, our family, our siblings, our parents - seeing our parents as individuals, talking about stuff, confronting our past and finding out your parents’ history. From a personal point of view, I went through a similar kind of thing to Sathnam in terms of uncovering my past and it’s changed my life forever, so in a weird way I hope that the film inspires people and moves them. It’s a moving story. But makes them laugh as well - I hope people will like it!
