Madhur Bhandarkar to direct a film for Bhansali?

Here's one pairing that is bound to create a lot of buzz. Two filmmakers who are as different as chalk and cheese - Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Madhur Bhandarkar- are coming together for an upcoming film.

We can tell you that if all goes well, Bhandarkar will direct a film for Bhansali, which is the Hindi remake of the 2002 Tamil blockbuster Ramana, written and directed by A R Murgadoss, who also made the superhit Ghajini.

About Ramana: the film was first made in Tamil at a budget of Rs 11.5 crore and starred Vijaykanth and Simran. Released during Diwali, it ran for 150-odd days in theatres, a lot judging by today's standards. It was later remade in Telugu as Tagore, with Chiranjeevi in the lead and then in Kannada with Vishnuvardhan headlining it.

A source told us, "Bhansali has been wanting to make Ramana since quite some time. He was thinking about whom to pass on the mantle. It was recently that he zeroed down on Bhandarkar. Ramana is a very hard-hitting film and would suit Bhandarkar's style of filmmaking."

Reportedly, Bhandarkar has agreed in principle and the modalities are being worked out.

According to the source, an official from Bhansali's company went with the offer to Bhandarkar's office in Andheri last week. He even gave a DVD of Ramana to the director, who saw the film early this week and quite liked it.

The film would be Bhandarkar's next after he completes Heroine starring Kareena Kapoor and Arjun Kapoor. While we repeatedly tried to get in touch with Bhansali and Bhandarkar, both remained unavailable for comment.

Meanwhile, we can also tell you that a couple of years ago there was buzz in trade circles that a Hindi version of the film was being planned -with Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai in the lead.

Ramana story

The leading man, Vijaykanth, decides to abolish corruption once and for all with the help of his students, who are now working in various government offices. The reason for this powerful decision is shown in flashback. Vijaykanth is a happily married professor.

One day, when he is out, the entire neighbourhood collapses due to faulty construction, and his wife and daughter lose their life in the incident. Vijaykanth rushes to the existing officials in the hope they will help him, only to find out they are corrupt and mere puppets in the hands of one industrialist who holds the reins. Vijaykanth's decision is born out of disillusionment with the system.

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