Ketan Mehta: It was heartbreaking to not do Freedom Radio

Aheartfelt tribute to his aunt Usha Mehta, who had played a crucial role in India’s freedom movement—that’s how Ketan Mehta had envisioned Freedom Radio.

In May 2022, the director and producer Anubhav Sinha announced the ambitious biopic. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be. After the Sara Ali Khan-led Ae Watan Mere Watan was announced last year, Ketan was persuaded by Sinha to drop their project as both movies had the same subject.

Now, as the Karan Johar production is slated to première on Prime Video on March 21, Ketan remembers how his film was to be an intimate portrait of his aunt, who established the underground radio station, Congress Radio, during the Quit India movement.

“Developing this story was pure joy. Sifting through her personal diaries and delving into my own memories have been a crucial part of the work. We were planning to make Freedom Radio, but another film was already being made on the same subject.

That had progressed substantially, and we were still in the pre-production stage. It wouldn’t have been wise to repeat it,” he says. The decision to drop the story, which he held so dear, was not easy. “It was heartbreaking when we decided to not do Freedom Radio. But that’s part of filmmaking; you have to take it in your stride.”