Will Hrithik team up with Channel V anchor in Basu's film?

Mumbai, Jan 31 (IANS) The hunt for Hrithik Roshan's leading lady in his next home production is getting more intense. The latest to be checked out by director Anurag Basu is Channel V anchor Bruna Abdullah.

Bruna, with an Arab mother and Brazilian father, has stationed herself in Mumbai waiting for a break in Bollywood. She performed an extremely bold item song for Anubhav Sinha's 'Cash' recently.

'Bruna has her eyes set on Bollywood. Sinha's item song was her stepping-stone. Basu's film with Hrithik is her next big move,' said a close friend of the Arabian-Brazilian VJ-dancer.

'Bruna is extremely uninhibited before the camera. That's why she was brought into Channel V which needed a girl to rival the international looks, personality and body language of MTV VJ Mia,' added the friend.

However, Basu denies Bruna has been pencilled in for the Hrithik project.

He told IANS: 'I don't deny meeting her, like we've met so many other girls for the part. But Bruna hasn't been finalised. But it'll surely be an international face.'

'It'll be a Spanish speaking girl. We want to show love has no barriers,' added Rakesh Roshan who is producing the yet-untitled thriller.

Several names have been put forward. Apparently, Rakesh Roshan, who is very close to Anil Kapoor and quite fond of Anil's daughter Sonam, wanted to cast her.

Sonam, conscious of her conservative image, begged off because the role requires the girl to get seriously sexy with Hrithik.

'I'd love to work with Sonam, but not on this project. The role doesn't do justice to her. We're looking at someone from abroad, someone Latin American or Brazilian. So, yeah, in that sense this would be my first international project,' said Hrithik.

Basu confirms that the role is quite bold.

'We've looked at many names, known and new in Bollywood. But that 'it' factor eludes us. I'm getting quite jittery. The girl's role is extremely bold. Actually, we've decided to cast someone international, preferably Brazilian, because that's the personality and profile of the leading lady in my film.'