Parent-child drama, on and off screen!

Only last week, Srijit Mukherji, tongue firmly in cheek, said that he was going into labour and Friday was his date of delivery. As expected, half the film industry turned up to meet his newborn —

Uma

. Addressing the audience at the premiere show at a city plex on Thursday evening, which to him is no less than giving birth, the director said, “I’ll take the least credit for this film. The story was already there and the characters were beautifully brought to life by the actors.”

FROM ST GEORGE, WITH LOVE: A special guest for the show was

Nicole Wellwood

, mother of

Evan Leversage

, whose young life was cut short by an incurable brain tumour. “Uma has brought Evan’s name back. Other people are reaching out to me now. As a grieving mother, you want your child to be remembered. With Uma, his name will be woven into a fabric of a far bigger scale and I feel blessed. The film has given me a lot of hope and has once again fuelled that inspiration in me. The fact that I am in India has brought a lot of greatness to my life. It’s almost like recreating Evan’s Christmas but years later,” said Nicole.

PAPA’S GIRL: Evan, a boy from St George, was the inspiration behind this film with a child protagonist, played by Sara Sengupta. The teenage daughter of

Jisshu U Sengupta

was seen standing at the gate with daddy dearest to usher in the guests in person. Politician-actor-musician Babul Supriyo, who has a small but significant role in the film, was seen carrying daughter Naina in his lap. And so happy was the toddler to see her papa on the big screen that she even gave him a high-five!

The parent-child bonding that played out on many levels on and off the screen was as talked about as the film itself.