Amrita Bagchi on Playing Ajay Ahuja’s Wife in Safed Sagar: ‘Didn’t Want to Add Weight of Tragedy’

Amrita Bagchi says playing Alka Ahuja, the wife of Squadron Leader Ajay Ahuja, in Safed Sagar required her to resist the temptation to make the character overly emotional.

For Bagchi, the challenge was not simply portraying a woman connected to a tragic chapter in India’s military history. It was about understanding Alka as a person whose life, relationships and everyday experiences existed independently of what the audience already knows about the eventual outcome.

In an interview about the series, Bagchi explained that the makers encouraged her to meet Alka Ahuja herself rather than attempting to imitate her. That interaction, along with time spent around Air Force personnel and families, helped the actor approach the role with greater restraint.

Amrita Bagchi wanted to portray Alka as a woman, not a tragedy

Bagchi said the creators of Safed Sagar were particularly conscious about keeping the story grounded and realistic. According to the actor, Oni Sen, Abhijit Parmar and director Kushal Srivastav, who has an Air Force background, brought an understanding of the subject that influenced the entire production.

One of the most important instructions she received was not to copy Alka Ahuja. Instead, Bagchi was asked to meet her, observe her and form her own understanding of the woman she would portray.

That meeting became central to her preparation.

Bagchi realised that knowing the tragic ending in advance could easily affect an actor’s performance. An audience knows what happened to Ajay Ahuja, but Alka did not know that outcome while living through those ordinary moments with her husband.

The distinction became particularly important while filming scenes set before the tragedy.

“As actors, we tend to anticipate tragedy,” Bagchi explained, describing the need to separate her own knowledge of the story from what Alka would have known at the time.

The makers therefore helped her approach Alka without giving every moment the emotional weight of hindsight.

Meeting Alka Ahuja helped shape the performance

Bagchi described her interaction with Alka Ahuja as one of the most valuable parts of her preparation.

She said that meeting Alka decades after the events gave her an opportunity to understand how the woman had changed over the years while also looking for glimpses of the person she had been in the 1990s.

Rather than asking Alka directly what she was like at that time, Bagchi listened to her memories of Ajay and their life together. Through those recollections, she began to understand Alka’s resilience, independence and personality.

The actor was also struck by the friendship that existed within Ajay and Alka’s marriage. From the stories she heard, Ajay supported his wife’s individual choices, giving Bagchi another dimension of their relationship to incorporate into her performance.

The sweater-measuring scene posed a unique challenge

One scene particularly tested Bagchi because she knew the eventual fate of Ajay Ahuja.

The sequence involves Alka taking measurements for Ajay’s sweater before he leaves. On the surface, the moment is ordinary. The couple has no reason to believe that this routine interaction will carry the significance it does in retrospect.

For Bagchi, however, the knowledge of what happens later was impossible to ignore.

She also recalled learning about other details from Alka’s life that did not necessarily appear in the series. One such memory involved money Alka had intended to send to Ajay through a person referred to as Baldy. The money ultimately remained with them and was later used when arrangements had to be made following Ajay’s death.

Bagchi said knowing such details helped her understand the larger story, but she had to ensure that her performance remained rooted in what Alka herself would have known in each moment.

Shooting around Air Force personnel added authenticity

The production also gave Bagchi an opportunity to spend time in Air Force environments and interact with Air Force families.

She recalled having to hand over her phone during parts of the experience, something she found surprisingly enjoyable. Without the usual distraction of mobile devices, the cast and crew spent more time together, talking, drinking tea and eating Maggi.

The actor said Air Force families were extremely welcoming and supportive during the shoot. Some even brought food for the team late at night.

Those interactions helped the cast experience a sense of community and camaraderie that Bagchi felt was valuable for a story set around military life.

She also recalled playing Antakshari and spending time together in a way that reminded her of the 1990s, the period in which parts of the story are set.

‘Kali Kali Aankhen’ sequence showed another side of Ajay Ahuja

Among Bagchi’s favourite memories from the production was the shoot for the ‘Kali Kali Aankhen’ sequence.

Unlike many of the shoot days, when the cast and crew were divided across different locations or portions of the story, the sequence brought much of the team together.

Bagchi said the scene offered an opportunity to show a lighter side of Squadron Leader Ajay Ahuja. While researching the character, the team had also come across a photograph showing Ajay in a playful moment, something that helped them appreciate his personality beyond his identity as an Air Force officer.

For Bagchi, that discovery reinforced the importance of showing the person behind the uniform.

Alka Ahuja’s reaction became Bagchi’s ‘report card’

Following the release, Bagchi received feedback from Alka Ahuja herself as well as from Alka’s son.

According to the actor, Alka told her that she had done well and said the series gave her a sense of the home and life she had shared with Ajay.

For Alka, the experience was particularly meaningful because many of the memories from that period predate smartphones and the constant availability of photographs and videos.

Bagchi said Alka told her that watching the series brought back memories of Ajay and their life together. Hearing that response was deeply significant for the actor.

She compared Alka’s reaction to receiving a report card from the very person whose life she had attempted to portray.

Amrita Bagchi wants more realistic stories about the armed forces

Bagchi believes stories about India’s armed forces deserve to be told more often, but she emphasised that realism should remain central to such projects.

For her, military stories should go beyond uniforms, heroism and sacrifice to explore the people and families affected by conflict.

She argued that audiences should also understand the human cost of war and what military service means for spouses, children and loved ones waiting at home.

That perspective is also what Bagchi says she tried to bring to Alka Ahuja in Safed Sagar: not simply the wife of a fallen officer, but a woman with her own personality, memories, relationships and life beyond the tragedy that eventually changed it.