Is Aish the best Basanti?

By Subhash K Jha

Now that Ram Gopal Varma Ka Sholay has its entire principal cast from Amitabh Bachchan as Gabbar Singh to Mohanlal as the Thakur, in place, only one question remains.

Who will play the principal female lead of Basanti, the role that Hema Malini made her own? Who then are the candidates to play the chirpy Basanti?

Aishwarya Rai: Let's 'face' it. She's the only one who has the grace and face to carry off Hema's dance on glass in the song Jab tak hai jaan. Any other actress would make audiences exclaim., 'Ow'. Ash can make them go 'Wow!' She has never done an candid extrovery's role before. Basanti could make her the mass queen.

Preity Zinta: As far as talkativeness goes Preity can replicate and even Basanti at the yak-yak. She talks nineteen-to-the-dozen. And she gets along like a house on fire with 'Veeru' Abhishek Bachchan. Since they've never been paired together, they'd make a fresh pair. Forget the fact that the original Basanti wore a ghagra-choli. Preity's Basanti will be a city-slicker.

Kareena Kapoor: Vivacious, extraordinarily exuberant and raring to go….Kareena is at a stage where she needs that one big push to achieve superstardom. Basanti in Sholay is just what could catapult her up there. Kareena and Abhishek did make a perfect pair in J.P.Dutta's Refugee and Sooraj Barjatya's Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon. Who knows, they could become the new Dharmendra-Hema after Ramu's Sholay!

Rani Mukherjee: She could be the most obvious choice for Basanti. Didn't she do the Babli bit with Abhishek in Bunty Aur Babli? It wouldn't take them too much effort to slip from from Babli to Basanti. Yeah, the dancing on glass would seem problematic. But who said Rani can't dance?

Esha Deol: A natural genetically endorsed choice…Who better equipped to play Basanti than Basanti's bubbly beti? Esha is a good dancer too….But Ramu makes it clear that casting Esha's daughter as Basanti would be too gimmicky. So no Esha.

Priyanka Chopra: Currently the hot diva, wooed by one and all from Pritish Nandy to Madhur Bhandarkar, Priyanka is already doing Zeenat Aman's role in Farhan Akhtar's Don. So why not Basanti from Sholay? Besides possessing a mass appeal she's a fabulous dancer. In short, a Malini in the making.

Antara Mali: Don't be surprised if Ramu finally opts for his old favourite. After all she has done Basanti of sorts in Main Madhuri Dixit Ban-na Chahti Hoon. She's proven himself in voluble roles. And she did look rather cool with Abhishek in Naach, didn't she?

The ? Factor: Finally though, Ramu could opt for a completely new face for Basanti. "I'm currently completely taken up with the release of James. I'll take a call on Basanti after that," says Ramu.