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‘It’s a very personal story to me’ sacha dhawan SACHA DHAWAN on why his latest
role struck an emotional chord
WHEN SACHA DHAWAN was asked to appear in a BBC adaptation of The Boy with the Topknot, Sathnam Sanghera’s acclaimed memoir of growing up in 1980s Wolverhampton, he was unsure about taking on the role of Sathnam, a journalist whose London life is a world away from that of his Punjabi parents in the Midlands.
ALL IN THE FAMILY
‘I was like: “Is it going to be all about arranged marriages?”’ says Dhawan, who is best-known for Mr Selfridge and, most recently, playing Davos in Marvel’s Iron Fist.‘then I read the book and I was struck by how relatable it was, as a Punjabi boy myself. It starts off being about arranged marriages, but it ends up being so much more – about family and also mental illness.’
In the drama, Sathnam is preparing to tell his parents, who have been introducing him to Sikh girls, that he already has a girlfriend (Joanna Vanderham).
On a visit home, however, he discovers that his father (Anupam Kher) has been treated for schizophrenia.
TOUCHING STORY
‘It’s about getting back to your roots,’ says Dhawan, 33, who was born to Indian parents in Stockport.
‘And it’s a very personal story to me. My parents are the same as Sathnam’s – they don’t really talk about stuff.’
He adds that a touching exchange in the drama sparked a personal memory of his own.
‘There’s a moment when Sathnam and his father have a proper conversation for the first time, and his dad pulls out a folder of his newspaper cuttings,’ he explains.‘that’s exactly what my father did when I came back from acting on Broadway. Not only had he collected all the articles, he’d put them in a proper binder!’