VETERAN ACTRESS SHARMILA Tagore has starred with her daughter Soha Ali Khan for the first time in Life Goes On, a film on British Indians that was screened at the ongoing 11th Mumbai Film Festival.

“This is the first time Sharmila Tagore and Soha are sharing screen space. I have known Sharmila Tagore for a long time and from the very beginning I have imagined her in the character she is playing,” said Sangeeta Datta, who made her directorial debut with the film.

“I have worked with Soha while I was associate director in Rituparno Ghosh’s Antar Mahal,” said London-based Datta.

The story of Life Goes On revolves around the cultural conflict between a father and his youngest daughter, with different sub-plots shown in flashback.

The story, script and screenplay are by Datta and detail the prejudices and Islam-phobia still deep-rooted among certain sections of immigrant Indians in London. It is a contemporary adaptation of Shakespeare’s King Lear but with a hopeful ending.

“It shows that love can conquer,” explained Datta.

Sharmila Tagore, Girish Karnad, Om Puri, Soha Ali Khan, Rez Kempton, NeerjaNaik, Mukulika Banerjee, Christopher Hatherall, Stef Patten and Aria Gitanjali Banerjee Watts are all part of the film.

Datta said Sharmila is a perfectionist and even guides co-actors. “Sharmila wants the shots to be perfect. She helps her co-stars whenever required,” said Datta..

“I was very keen to rope in Saumitra Chatterjee but he was not keeping well those days. Thankfully, Karnad agreed,” said Datta.

Lyricist Javed Akhtar translated two Tagore songs into Urdu for the film. Datta says this is the first time any Rabindra Sangeet has been translated into Urdu.

“I am a British Bengali but still hold an Indian passport. As the story is about immigrant Indians in London and has been shot with a British crew, probably it would be considered a British movie,” said Datta.