Mumbai — Actress Pratibha Ranta has opened up about portraying freedom fighter Pratibha Lahiri in the historical series ‘The Revolutionaries’, describing her character as an inquisitive young woman who was deeply interested in books, education and the political upheaval around her.
Ranta spoke about the role while interacting with IANS during the show’s promotional activities in Mumbai alongside Nikkhil Advani, Bhuvan Bam, Rohit Saraf and Gurfateh Pirzada.
According to Ranta, relatively little information about Pratibha Lahiri is available in the public domain, making the process of building the character particularly intriguing.
“There’s not much about Pratibha Lahiri in the public domain,” Ranta said, recalling her conversations with director Nikkhil Advani about the character.
She referred to a significant episode associated with Chandrashekhar Azad, who died after shooting himself with his last bullet during a confrontation with the British so that he would not be captured alive. Ranta said Lahiri later used Azad’s ashes on the foreheads of young revolutionaries.
For Ranta, that moment offered an insight into Lahiri’s character and her awareness of the generation that followed the older revolutionaries.
“She was a curious cat. She wanted to know everything about what was happening around her,” Ranta said, while imagining what Lahiri might have been like as a 17-year-old confronting the social expectations and political realities of her time.
Ranta also highlighted Lahiri’s love for reading and her academic interests. She said Lahiri’s intelligence played an important role in her association with revolutionary Sachindra Nath Sanyal.
“She was a very avid reader. She was very interested in studies,” Ranta said, adding that Lahiri was able to decode letters exchanged with Sanyal.
The actress said these lesser-known aspects of Lahiri’s personality helped her move beyond simply portraying a historical figure and understand the young woman behind the revolutionary story.
‘The Revolutionaries’ revolves around four freedom fighters — Rash Behari Bose, Pratibha Lahiri, Sachindra Nath Sanyal and Bagha Jatin — and their resistance against British rule in India.
Inspired by true events, the series explores a strand of the freedom struggle in which its protagonists believed armed resistance was essential to challenging British rule. The show also features Rohit Saraf, Gurfateh Pirzada and Jason Shah.
‘The Revolutionaries’ is streaming on Prime Video.
–IANS
