Rani Mukerji is currently promoting her upcoming film Norway vs Mrs Chatterjee. The film follows the real-life story of Sagarika Bhattacharya who put up a brave fight in foreign soil to save her children.
It all began when Kolkata’s Sagarika Bhattacharya moved to Norway with her family with dreams and hope for the future. To build a home away from home, Sagarika and her family tried to make friends with the neighbourhood. Keeping up with the ways of the world in Norway, Sagarika did not let go of Indian culture. As she stuck to her roots, the natives in Norway found it strange, completely oblivious of the rich cultural heritage of India. Today, let’s have a look at the story of Sagarika Bhattacharya, who proved that nothing is more powerful than a mother’s will to save her children.
Sagarika Bhattacharya story
Sagarika Bhattcharjee married Anurup Bhattcharjee in 2007 and moved to Norway. She returned to India when she was pregnant with her first child whom the couple named Abhigyan. Just few months after being born, Abhigyan started showing symptoms of autism. The mother-son duo then went back to Norway to reunite with Anurup.
The Bhattcharjee couple then put their son in a Kindergarten. Soon, Sagarika found out that she was pregnant with her second child. It was also when Abhigyan started showing severe symptoms of autism as he began to bang his head on the ground every time he got frustrated. While Anurup was working, Sagarika was taking care of herself and her child mostly alone.
Norway, which is considered as one of the happiest countries in the world, has a strict childcare system. If anyone fails in taking care of child as closely observed by regulatory bodies, the government has the authority to take away the children from their parents.
A Child Welfare Service (CWS) team in Norway was made alert several times about Abhigyan as it was alleged that Sagarika is a misfit to take care of her child. The team visited Sagarika’s house but left after finding she was bearing another child. Sagarika gave birth to her daughter Aishwarya soon after.
While Sagarika’s family was now complete, Abhigyan’s situation turned worse. He would strongly react when he would see his mother breastfeeding his sibling. The entire scenario caused a upheaval in Sagarika’s life. Meanwhile, the CWS continued to send alerts against Sagarika. She was also even asked to sit for Marte Meo counselling.
After multiple alerts, the government deployed an officer to keep a close watch on Sagarika. While Abhigyan was in kindergarten, a caretaker took Aishwarya for a walk. Soon, the parents were told that their children were now in CWS’s custody. This completely shattered Sagarika. However, she did not let her emotions get the better of her and began on journey to bring her kids back.
Sagarika and Anurpur asked for Indian government’s help and even appeared on National television. While Anurup soon changed sides and said Sagarika was responsible for the entire fiasco. After the intervention of Indian government, the children were sent to India. Sagarika, too, returned home. However, she was deemed misfit to take care of her children. The custody was given to Anurup’s brother and Sagarika still could not reunite with her children.
Sagarika again put of a strong fight in India and finally won the custody of her children in 2013.
Sagarika Bhattacharya thanks Rani Mukerji
Sharing her thoughts on the Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway, Sagarika in a recent interview said, “It’s hard to put into words how it feels seeing my story being told. Watching the trailer, I felt like I was reliving my battle. I believe it is important for people to know this story and to see how immigrant mothers/parents are treated even today, as is evident from the tragic story in Germany. I’ve been in touch with Ariha Shah’s mother Dhara, whose little girl has been taken away. I implore you all to stand by her, just as I do. My support is unconditional, from one mother to another.”
She further adds, “I want to thank Rani Mukerji for channeling the grief and struggles that I went through to win back my children. She is a mother herself and I thank her for bringing a mother’s painful journey on screen with so much dignity that I broke down while seeing her in the trailer.”
The film will release in theatres on March 17th.
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