The story of Rani Mukherjee’s film Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway is based on a true incident, the country’s borders change the meaning of ‘mother’

Mother is given the status of God in India. She loves your child, nurtures and nurtures it, caresses it for doing good and scolds it for doing mischief, feeding the child by being hungry herself! This is the mother in our eyes. Mother is the highest in Indian society, mother is mother, God is in mother! But there are many countries in the world who do not believe so. They only give the right to the mother that she can only give birth to the child, cannot feed it with her own hand, cannot make it sleep near her and if scolded for mistake then according to the law of the country, some child care agency will take the child to their own. Will take along and give back only after turning 18! Being an Indian, these laws surprise you, don’t you? But they are completely true. This is the law in force in countries like Norway and Germany. A film has been made on the fight of a mother with this law. Whose name is ‘Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway’. The film stars Rani Mukherjee in the lead role. The film is based on a novel The Journey Of A Mother. The novel tells the story of an Indian mother, Sagarika Chatterjee. The story of The Journey Of A Mother is based on her real life where she shares her experiences. The book focuses on the conspiracy and the illegal practices of child welfare in western countries, which take children away from their innocent parents. These organizations do this for reasons that are very common in India.

Movie ‘Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway’

‘Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway’ is based on the real-life story of an Indian woman who stands up against the Norwegian government to be reunited with her children. The film is based on the story of Sagarika Chatterjee, an Indian mother of two, whose children were taken away from her by the Norwegian Child Welfare Services citing habits that are common in Indian society. Rani Mukherjee is making a comeback on the big screen this year with ‘Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway’ releasing on March 17. The trailer of the film was launched on 23rd February and the film has created a lot of buzz all around. It also came into limelight because when the trailer of this film was released, one such Gujarati family was struggling to get their daughter back from Germany at Tanjar Manjar. Because of this, along with the trailer of the film, Boycott Germany also started trending across the country.

Story of the movie ‘Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway’

Sagarika Chakraborty married geophysicist Anoot Bhattacharya and the couple moved to Norway in 2007. A year later, Sagarika gives birth to the couple’s first child, Abhigyan, who soon shows signs of autism. It is a kind of disease. After this Sagarika gives birth to a daughter. Daughter’s name is Aishwarya. Sagarika loves both her children very much. Mother Sagarika Chakraborty scolds the child for being a misanthrope and only after that Abhigyan is taken to a family kindergarten (Barnevernet literally: child protection) organization as per Norwegian law. The child is separated from the mother. The mother has started a legal battle, pleading at different places but her child is not given back to her, but Sagarika Chakraborty is called a bad mother because she used to open food with her own hand and put her child to sleep nearby. Tragedy then struck in 2011 when the Norwegian Child Welfare Services, known as Barnevernet (literally: ‘Child Protection’), took both Aishwarya and Abhigyan away from their parents until they turned 18. What Barnavernet termed ‘inappropriate parenting’.

Accusations against the couple also included sleeping in the same bed with their children, hand-feeding (which Norwegian authorities considered force-feeding) and corporal punishment (Sagarika allegedly slapped the children once). While these things may seem “normal” in the Indian context. Norwegian authorities consider this a crime. In particular, Norway has very strict laws regarding children and their parenting, and these laws are universally applied regardless of cultural differences. The story soon attracted the attention of both the Norwegian as well as the Indian media – with many highly critical of Barnvarnet’s actions. Some even call it “state sponsored kidnapping”. The point was that Barnvernet not only appeared to be culturally ignorant about Indian parenting, but he also appeared to be attacking the mother personally to bolster his own case. It was a kind of child kidnapping gang going on. With increasing publicity came diplomatic pressure. The then foreign minister SM Krishna met his Norwegian counterpart in Oslo to settle the matter and after protracted negotiations, it was decided that the custody of the children would be given to a paternal uncle in India, 27-year-old dentist Arunabhas Bhattacharya.

another custody battle

Norwegian Child Welfare Services handed over two children to their uncle and grandfather in Kulti, near Asansol, West Bengal, in April 2012. While this was a welcome development, the custody battle was far from over. The ongoing battle with the Norwegian authorities affected the marriage of Sagarika and Anuj. Sagarika now faces a custody battle for the two children in India. She approached the Burdwan Child Welfare Committee for the custody of her children. While this committee ruled in favor of Sagarika, the police did not implement it, leaving the children with their uncle and grandfather. In December 2012, Sagarika approached the Calcutta High Court.

In January 2013, Justice Dipankar Dutta ruled that Sagarika should have custody of the two children while allowing visitation privileges to her uncle and grandfather. Dutta said “It must be painful for uncle and grandfather but they should accept it for the greater good. She took care of the children as per the requirement. In 2022, Sagarika Chakraborty’s autobiography, “The Journey of a Mother”, was published. The upcoming film is based on this book, in which Rani is playing the role of Sagarika.