Twenty-two-year-old Kareena Kapoor will be paired with the 43-year-old Anil Kapoor. Yet again.
After Dharmesh Darashan's Bewafaa, the two will star together as husband and wife in Rituparno Ghosh's first Hindi film.
To be made in a start-to-finish schedule in January 2004, Ghosh's first Hindi film tentatively titled Kaaya, will star Kareena in the pivotal role. The period story set in a feudal Bengali household will also feature Manisha Koirala in a stellar role.
Says Ghosh, "I considered Malayalam superstar Mammootty for the male lead because he was physically right for the part. But the Hindi language would have been a problem. Then I thought of Ajay Devgan. But he had to put on weight which he cannot do, unfortunately, because of his other acting assignments."
Anil Kapoor has agreed to put on weight for his role.
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Meanwhile, Ghosh's dream of working with Amitabh Bachchan might solidify soon. He says, "The script is almost ready. No one has seen it yet. And people claim it is based on the life of Satyajit Ray. What utter nonsense! If anyone, it has been inspired by incidents in the life of filmmaker Guru Dutt.
"Journalists in Mumbai seem to know more about it than I do," he continues. "They are already saying the film has been cancelled because Mr Bachchan does not approve of the script. The fact is, he has not even read the script. We have only pushed it ahead because I need to shoot it in a wintry environment. We will start as soon as the weather conditions and Amitda's dates permit. The best thing to have happened to my film is, Jaya Bachchan has agreed to play Amitda's wife. I will start this film after I finish my Anil-Kareena film."
Ghosh's Chokher Bali, starring Aishwarya Rai, will be screened at the Locarno International Film Festival in the competition section.
It is interesting to note that Ghosh is planning to move from Bengali to Hindi cinema at just about the same time as his mentor Aparna Sen (Mr & Mrs Iyer).
Sen's Gulel is the story of two strangely bonded men belonging to two different strata of life who come together under extremely trying circumstances. Ajay Devgan heard the story and loved it. He is on.
As for the other lead, Sen has her heart set on Saif Ali Khan, she says. "It is the role of a rich, aristocratic, slightly spoilt businessman. I can't think of anyone better [than Saif]."
Saif is now in New York shooting for Karan Johar's Kal Ho Na Ho, and is expected to make up his mind by the time he returns to India.
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