Tanuja Chandra’s Sangharsh was based on the Anthony Hopkins thriller The Silence Of The Lambs with Akshar. During those days it was easy to get away with such…umm…creative liberties (a.k.a. plagiarism).
To director Tanuja Chandra’s credit, she gave the original and innovative twist in the (unofficial) remake.
Speaking on Sangharsh, Tanuja says, “It’s hard to believe that twenty-six years have passed. It was my second film, and I was full of beans. I’m still full of beans, only older and, I hope, wiser. Hahahaha. I enjoyed every bit of Sangharsh. Akshay was then considered more of an action star, and this was a serious acting role. I knew in my heart he could do it, and he worked so hard it was inspiring. I think he considers it one of his most heartfelt performances even today. Preity Zinta worked with great passion, and I treasured her enthusiasm. Ashutosh had to prove that Dushman wasn’t a memorable performance by fluke. I also loved making the music for the film, and it is still so loved after all these years.
Tanuja has one regret. “The one thing I regret in retrospect is I wish we didn’t have the villain’s character use a transgender avatar to intimidate the heroine. The character wasn’t trans; he only wore a saree as a ploy, but I would’ve preferred to have it some other way. As with most of my films, Sangharsh is now more popular than even at the time of release, and I’m told it has gone on to become something of a cult film. And that’s pretty amazing! Alia Bhatt made her debut as the childhood version of Preity.”
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