Juhi matures to mum roles!

Juhi Chawla’s character in Onir’s I am Megha from the ‘I Am’ series is inspired from Sanjay Suri’s mother Urvashi Suri’s life. Sanjay Suri, who comes from an affluent business family of Kashmiri pandits, had to leave Srinagar at the age of 19 when his father got killed by terrorists and they had to relocate in Delhi.
Onir divulges, “Juhi’s character is that of a Kashmiri Pandit.She goes back to Kashmir after 20 years to the house she lived in. Her character is inspired from Sanjay and her mother’s life because they are refugees from Kashmir.”
Onir insists that it is essentially a story of anyone who has lost their homeland.
He quips, “It’s a story of anyone who is a refugee. I didn’t want to make it exactly parallel to Sanjay’s mother, but I did incorporate a lot of incidents from her life.”
Sanjay Suri, who plays a lead role in the film, says, “Yes, it is loosely based on my mother’s story but it is also about coming to terms with your past.
Every person who has left Kashmir will identify with that. My mother revisited Kashmir after 17 years but she still didn’t visit our house in Srinagar where dad was killed.”
To add authenticity Onir also arranged for Sanjay Suri’s mother to be present on the shoot. He informs, “Aunty (Sanjay’s mother) was also present at the shoot and she gave valuable inputs in the film. She even lent Kashmiri pashmina shawls to Juhi.” Juhi, we hope you’ve returned these. It’s only mature.