Madhuri's loss is Vidya's gain

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sheetal

@sheetald

Rocker

Posted: 19 years ago

Vidya Balan

It's official. Madhuri is not doing Shaji N Karun's Suryamukhi (working title), based on the life of the controversial painter Raja Ravi Varma. Karun's second choice, Vidya Balan, has been signed for the coveted role.
The South-based director Karun is presently in Mumbai.

Talking to HiTLIST yesterday, he said, "Vidya's output will be as good as I had envisaged with Madhuri. Vidya is my choice and I stand by it. She is a hard-core performer and she is going to rock in Suryamukhi."

Can't wait

Madhuri's secretary Rakesh Nath (Rikku) told Karun that Madhuri would not be able to begin working on the film before April 2007. "I would have loved to have her, but I could not wait for that long. I want to take this film to Cannes next year."

Madhuri had a problem since the script has some nudity in it, and Dixit even sent e-mails to Karun in this regard. But he had cleared her apprehensions by saying, "I can use shadows to express nudity, or I'll directly use the picture that Raja Ravi Varma had painted."

Also, Madhuri had been told by Karun that she would have to reduce her fee, since Suryamukhi was not a big budget project.

Male casting on

Balan, who will obviously take far lesser money than Madhuri, will play the Maharashtrian woman who modelled as goddesses for Varma. She is likely to be called Ganga in the film.

Suryamukhi will be produced by Bobby Bedi and will start in October. The hero has not yet been finalised. Bedi and Karun wanted Ajay Devgan to play Raja Ravi Varma, but Devgan did not show interest.

"I am in the city to finalise the male lead and put the other things in place, so that I start in time. I have two to three names in mind, and am talking to them. In two or three days, I will select the man who will play the painter," concludes Karun.

Another ace for Vidya

Balan has been signed up for Chandramukhi opposite Akshay Kumar, a Hindi remake of the South super hit Chandramukhi — to be produced by T-Series, and be directed by Priyadarshan.

T-Series head honcho Bhushan Kumar says, "Priyadarshan suggested Vidya's name. Comedy is his forte and so we have introduced a few comic situations, but by and large, the script remains the same as the original. As for Akshay, he is my friend and wanted to do Rajnikant's role. I think he fits the character to the T."