“Tom Alter Fell Ill While Shooting With Us”
He Fell Ill While Shooting With Us,” Tom Alter’s Last Appearance In Bhavna Talwar’s Adaptation Of Beloved Children’s Film
Tom Alter is gone. But he leaves behind his presence in films. And we shall see him for the last time in Bhavna Talwar’s adaptation of the beloved Swiss children’s fable Heidi.
“It was such a pleasure working with Tom. He plays a schoolteacher in our film. He has a brief role. But we had such an enriching time shooting with him. And within the few scenes he did playing Heidi’s teacher, he was splendid,” says director Bhavna Talwar.
Bhavna’s husband producer Sheetal Talwar reveals it was during the shooting of Heidi that Tom fell ill. “We could see he was in acute pain. But no one could’ve imagined it was that serious. Tom’s going away is a big blow. He could talk about anything under the sun. He was erudite articulate and prolific. And he spoke such fluent Urdu and Hindi , he put me to shame.He gave me his book Re-run At Rialto to read. It shall remain a treasured gift for as long as I live.”
Bhavna and Sheetal intend to dedicate Heidi to Tom Alter.