She is one of Bollywood's brightest actresses, a stunner with substance.

He is a National-Award winning veteran best known for his seemingly unstoppable run of mediocre movies.

Kalpana Lajmi, in her upcoming Chingari, has cast Sushmita Sen [Images] opposite Mithun Chakraborty.

The film, written by composer Bhupen Hazarika, is based on three characters. Mithun plays Bhagwan Pandit, a Kali-worshipping priest. He's a man of two shades: Extremely positive, as a devout spiritual leader and extremely negative, a passionate lover of prostitutes. As Mithun says, "Whatever he does, he does with great conviction."

Anuj Sawhney (remember Naina?) plays a 25-year-old postman, and the film is, on a basic level, the story of his love for Basanti, a prostitute older than himself.

Basanti, played by the sultry Ms Sen, provides the point of conflict in the film, as Bhagwan Pandit also falls obsessively in love with her, and is ready to cross all boundaries in attempts to win her affection.

Lajmi feels that Chingari will cast light on lesser-known aspects of the lives of sex workers.

The film is scheduled to hit theatres by the end of this year.