The Little Mermaid is Disney’s live-action reimagining of the studio’s Oscar-winning animated musical classic. Inspired by the timeless tale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen in 1837, it is the quintessential story of an outsider and one that speaks to everyone.

Set to release globally in theatres this Friday, The Little Mermaid is an intimate story set against an epic backdrop, including a stunningly beautiful, photorealistic world under the sea. Ambitious in scale but grounded in reality, the big-screen musical features a talented cast, including Halle Bailey as Ariel, Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Daveed Diggs as the voice of Sebastian, Awkwafina voicing Scuttle, Jacob Tremblay as the voice of Flounder, Noma Dumezweni playing Queen Selina, Art Malik as Sir Grimsby, with Javier Bardem as King Triton and Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, rounding off the strong ensemble.

Set in the 1830s in and around the waters of a fictitious island in the Caribbean, Bailey’s Ariel is a spirited 18-year-old mermaid with a beautiful voice and a thirst for adventure. She is the youngest child of King Triton, who rules the oceans from his underwater kingdom and is the most defiant of his daughters of the Seven Seas. Frustrated with the confines of her life, Ariel is fascinated with the world above the surface, but it is a world inhabited by humans, with whom Triton has forbidden all merfolk from interacting. With Triton’s sibling, the evil Ursula, a sea witch feared by all merfolk, Ariel chooses to give up her mermaid gifts, including her siren song, in exchange for legs and a chance to experience the human world. However, she must receive true love’s kiss before the end of the third day or she will belong to Ursula for eternity.

Rob Marshall, who has directing credits like Chicago and Mary Poppins Returns, has said that he and his The Little Mermaid co-writers drew inspiration from Andersen’s source material and found “a very modern story about a girl who feels displaced and sees her life differently from anyone around her. With a great deal of passion and courage she embarks on an epic journey of self-discovery by breaking down walls and learning not to be afraid of the ‘other,’ which in her case was the human world”, says Marshall. “The contemporary themes explored felt to me like an antidote to the world’s divisions and a vital reminder that we are all one,” he adds.

Ariel’s human Prince Charming Eric is the adoptive son of Queen Selina. Acclaimed British actress Noma Dumezweni plays The Queen as a steadfast yet accessible monarch whose views of what her son’s future should entail are radically different from his own. Because she brought up Eric as her own child, she is fiercely protective, but she is noble and of regal stature, and governs her island kingdom with wisdom and compassion.

Born in Swaziland to South African parents, Olivier Award-winning actress Dumezweni has highly acclaimed credits across film, TV and theatre. Her recent credits include Mary Poppins Returns (which was directed by Marshall), with her neoteric work in TV shows like Normal People, The Undoing and The Watcher coming in for special praise.

In Mumbai recently, after a screening of the film, The Telegraph connected over a virtual call with Dumezweni on playing Queen Selina (which is a new character introduced in the film) and why she thinks the story of The Little Mermaid remains relevant for a contemporary audience.

What’s been the biggest creative high for you to be a part of The Little Mermaid experience? Does the fact that Queen Selina is a new character that has been introduced to the film have anything to do with it?

To be part of this, first and foremost, is an extraordinary experience. To be a part of this world is just magical. My joy of playing Queen Selina as a new character was the highlight. I got to play a queen in a Disney movie and a loving queen and a mother queen and a parent and a land lover learning about herself through letting go of her children.

It really became joyous because it didn’t feel like hard work. And then I had amazing people around to work with. Those are the highlights, the company and the work.

Also, the fact that you worked with the makers in Mary Poppins Returns a few years ago must have made The Little Mermaid feel like a homecoming of sorts....

Well, it was an absolute privilege to play the gorgeous part of Penny Farthing in Mary Poppins Returns. And then getting a phone call from Rob (Marshall) going: ‘We’d love you to be in The Little Mermaid.’ And me going: ‘What?! What do you mean?! The Little Mermaid that you are doing with Halle Bailey... I get to be in that?!’ That is an extraordinary thing.

Talking about the makers... not just Rob Marshall as a director and John DeLuca (producer), but also people like Colleen Atwood (four-time Oscar-winning costume designer) and Peter Swords King (Oscar-winning make-up artist), and loads of other departments... David Magee (writer), Wyatt Smith with the editing... I got to meet all these amazing people who are great at their job... and they made me feel great.

Peter and Colleen are the ones who made Queen Selina ultimately, with conversations with Rob and how it was all going to look. I love a beautiful costume and I felt gorgeous and very queenly as I should do (smiles).

What do you think is the enduring quality of the story of The Little Mermaid?

Hans Christian Andersen’s story is a story of yearning, of longing. We all understand what yearning is and the longing to see something outside which is much more expansive than your small world.

The ocean is huge, but her (Ariel’s) imagination is so big that she imagines the possibilities of what’s out there. And also Eric, in his way, imagines the possibilities of other worlds. And that’s what’s enduring in terms of our story.

All great stories for me are about connection. When people feel seen... that’s the enduring thing, and you give your heart away with that.Hans Christian Andersen’s story is a lot darker in its ending. But that sense of world meeting, yearning, love and the changing of people’s chemicals and cells in that moment... that’s hopefully the endurance of all great stories.

This adaptation of The Little Mermaid is very multicultural and inclusive. How do you think that is going to impact a young boy or girl of colour who watches the film?

I think it’s huge. In this film, I got to work with the great Art Malik and it was such a joy because I have watched him be an amazing actor in his time, and here I got the opportunity to stand next to him and talk to him about him working with David Lean. We are both people of colour and in The Little Mermaid, I can now see myself, my daughter can see herself, other children can see themselves within this story, within this world.

And therefore, you hone in on the important bits of the story. How does your heart feel? Because we can all see ourselves. So therefore we go back to the inside not worrying about what the outside is like. It’s a new generation and I am so excited. This is a new Ariel for a whole load of babies.