Portraying Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha in The Revolutionaries, streaming on Prime Video, has been an iconic opportunity that will stay with him forever and will incline the generations to dive deep into the history of Ghadar movement, says 30-year-old Kashish Saluja, an actor from Panipat, Haryana.Kashish was in Ludhiana after the release of the series. He paid respect to the martyr at his ancestral house in Sarabha village. “It was a beautiful moment with the people of Sarabha village who showered love for spreading the word about Kartar Singh Sarabha.”Playing Sarabha, who was martyred at just 19, was not merely about essaying a character. Saluja said, “It was a responsibility, knowing that someone was trusting you to bring the story of a legend to life.”“Playing this historical role helped me learn about the martyr, whom I sadly did not know much about earlier. I feel most youngsters don’t know much about his contribution to society. It was an honour to dive deeper into his journey and bring his story alive on screen so that more people know about him and his sacrifice for the nation,” Saluja said.His selection for the role brought pure joy. “Interestingly, I got the news when I came out of surgery at a hospital in Mumbai. That news made me forget everything I had gone through,” recalled the actor, who made his Bollywood debut with War 2.Playing Kartar Singh Sarabha was quite a challenging as there are not many documented materials available on the Ghadar Party revolutionary. “Before the shooting started, I paid a visit to Sarabha village and the ancestral house of the martyr to get a feel of the place he came from. The land that gave energy, valour to the martyr, also motivated me to play the role and ensure that I bring my version of the martyr on screen,” he said.What moved him most was Sarabha’s extraordinary valour and courage.” Saluja said, “When Sarabha was taken to court after the Lahore Conspiracy case, the judge realised he was only 19 and told him that if he accepted his involvement he would be let off. However, Sarabha looked at the judge and said, ‘What can you do at the most? You will hang me. Hang me. Even if I am born a hundred times, I will give my life for the country.’ Despite knowing his life was ending, he knew its impact would remain for generations. We are in a free India thanks to people like him.”Saluja hopes the audience will be inspired not only by Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha but also by other figures from the Ghadar movement. “Once you finish watching the series, go online and read about them. Although they did not succeed in their mission, they set in motion a movement that eventually paved the way for India’s freedom 32 years after the planned mutiny.”Interestingly, Saluja did not speak Punjabi fluently when he started the project, but his grandparents and relatives living in Ludhiana, helped him with his dialogues.Playing patriotic roles excites him the most as his grandparents actively participated in the Freedom movement and later shifted to India after Partition.But the actor in him is open to experiment with different roles and different genres.