Ae Watan Mere Watan’s Alexx O’Nell calls co-star Sara Ali Khan ‘competent, dedicated, serious and invested actor’

MUMBAI, MARCH 25 (ONLINE): In an exclusive interaction with Hindustan Times, Alexx O’Nell spoke about working in period dramas based on colonial era.Alex O’Nell, who portrays a ruthless British officer in Kannan Iyer’s Ae Watan Mere Watan, has worked for more than a decade in Indian films. The actor spoke at length about his fascination for Indian culture, history, art and architecture in an exclusive interview with Hindustan Times. He also shared about his working experience with Sara Ali Khan, Tabu and Sushmita Sen.

You are seen in Sara Ali Khan starrer Ae Watan Mere Watan, based on the 1942 Indian freedom struggle. You also acted in SS Rajamouli’s RRR, Bose: Dead/Alive, Raag Desh and Syera Narsimha Reddy. Since you have been part of so many films on India’s Independence movement, did you also go through some research or referred to any literature regarding that time period?

Yes, I have been studying India’s history. Back in my theatre days in US I played King Arthur, in the play Noises Off I played a British man. Most of my projects in India are specifically related to the colonial era from the year 1900 to 1947. If you look back at my filmography, in Chittagong you will see the uprising at Chittagong in 1930. Bose: Dead/Alive highlighted the rise of Indian National Army in 1945. In terms of having read source material, when I played Winston Churchill, I read his memoirs about being a soldier in the Northwest frontier of India during the 1890s. I would say that this part of my career has been a masterclass in very rich and fascinating history of India during this tumultuous period where heroes rose out of the ranks of common people.