No audition goes to waste, actor Amrita Bagchi can attest to that. An audition recorded in 2019 with Deepak Agarwal, the casting director, helped her land a meeting with makers of Operation Safed Sagar in 2024, where she was cast as Alka Ahuja, wife of Squadron Leader Ajay Ahuja, played by Siddharth in the Netflix series.
(L-R) Amrita Bagchi, Alka Ahuja, and Siddharth
To play her character, Bagchi’s biggest crutch was meeting the real life Alka. The actor shares she learnt the enormity of Alka’s love for her husband and the equal relationship the couple shared, which became the foundation for her performance.
“Alka ji is an epitome of grace and resilience. I realised that her husband was very much alive for her, even now. She did not see the body, so she never got any closure. She still feels that he will walk in through the door any day. To live 25 years like that and not get bitter is difficult. I could see how she anchored the home, what a remarkable friend and partner she was. I could sense how equal the relationship must have been, because she accepted that she was his second priority in life, the first being the Indian Air Force. She continues to live up to his wishes,” Bagchi says.