Sushant Singh Rajput in Shekar Kapur's Paani

HONG KONG " After literally years of scoutingShekhar Kapur ("Elizabeth," "Bandit Queen") has found the male lead for his futuristic blockbuster "Paani," settling on Sushant Singh Rajput.

Rajput is star ofYash Raj Films' "Random Desi Romance" (aka "Shuddh Desi Romance") which is currently making waves at the Indian box office and was a gala premiere last week at the Toronto festival. His only other major film credit was in Disney UTV's "Kai Po Che," which played in Berlin earlier this year.

"Paani" (which means water' in Hindi) is set in a futuristic world where wars over water have broken out.The precious liquid is owned by international corporations who use thirst as a weapon of control, while the wealthy squander it decadently. The story centers on young lovers who defy the rules and try to make the water flow back to its people.

Kapur gave "Paani" an international launch at Cannes in 2010 in an attempt to attract overseas investors and co-producers on board the $30 million plus project. After languishing a further couple of years, the film was picked up in November 2012 by Yash Raj Films. The privately-owned Indian major will provide the full finance.

The film is to be produced by YRF boss Aditya Chopra with multi-Oscar-winner A.R. Rahman tuning the musical score. Further casting is expected to include a Western female lead and a mixed Asian and Western supporting talent.

"Sushant is one of the most inspiring young actors to emerge out of India. It's going to be an exciting director-actor collaboration with him onPaani," said Kapur in a prepared statement.

Hrithik Roshan was widely tipped for the role, though the Indian superstar is currently resting after brain surgery.

The film will shoot in India and overseas locations from mid-2014. Under a deal signed in March this year YRF announced that "Paani" will be one of India's first to be presented as an IMAX film.

Reviewing "Desi Romance" Variety critic David Chute wrote: "After off-Bollywood indie hit Kai Po Che,' Rajput was already earmarked as a rising star. He may want to weed a few of those winsome gestures out of his box of tricks, if he's really serious about pursuing mega-fame."

Does Shekhar Kapur intend to starve his actors?

The director has reportedly demanded "incredibly thin actors" for his next, the long-stalled Paani

Shekhar Kapur's next film Paani, in association with Yash Raj Films, is about water crisis in a futuristic world. In fact, the filmmaker has been tweeting interestingly: Is Water the next information revolution? Amazing video shows water drops store memory', which makes us want to know more! We don't know what the exact story of his planned film - that rumouredly has Hrithik Roshan in the lead - could be, but it seems as if the filmmaker wants to describe the water crisis in gruesome detail. That is why he wants to show dehydrated / malnourished people in his film, wethinks.

Why are we saying this? Because Kapur has reportedly demanded "incredibly thin actors" for Paani. A newspaper report shows a clipping of the casting director's brief, saying Kapur wants men, women and children with "5% body fat". Really?

When we did some research, we found that a person with five percent body fat is extremely unhealthy, literally skin and bones. So what exactly is Mr Kapur trying to achieve? Does he want to starve his actors to the point that they are no longer fit?

Agreed, actors who want to show off their excruciatingly worked out abs will aim for that level. But for every cast member, even women and kids, to be in that condition is a strange requirement, we thinks and promotes a harmful way of life and thought.

According to health experts, for females 10-12 percent body fat is very low and dangerous. So expecting little children and women to starve themselves just to be able to land a role in Kapur's film will be detrimental to their mental and physical health in the long run. Don't you think so?

Internationally actors and models have received flak for craving to be ultra skinny. Back home, Kareena Kapoor had to face a lot of criticism when she went ultra-thin in her size zero avatar forTashan a few years ago. With Kapur being an international figure and one who tweets about social issues, we wonder why he has made a demand like this one - or has he? Is it a casting agent who has the wrong end of this particular stick, we cannot help wondering... Care to explain, Mr Kapur?

http://www.bollywoodlife.com/news-gossip/does-shekhar-kapur-intend-to-starve-his-actors/

After a delay of 13 years, his film on water crisis to go on the floors in August

From page 2 eteran director Shekhar Kapur has been working on his most ambitious project, Paani, for around 13 years now. But film couldn't see the light of day due to many reasons " frequent cast changes and exorbitant budget, among others. But it looks it is finally going on the floors.

Paani is set in 2050, and tells the story of a time where water, a rare resource, is controlled by international corporations and thirst is used as weapon to control people. "The film is going on floors in the first week of August. The script, screenplay and dialogue have been locked completely and the preproduction work is going on in full swing," says Kapur. Ask him if the entire film will be shot in chroma-key (a green screen in the background), he says, "No film can be shot entirely in chroma, but yes, a huge chunk will be shot like that, say 70 to 80 per cent."

The film stars Sushant Singh Rajput. In the past, names like Vivek Oberoi and Hrithik Roshan were also considered. But Kapur refuses to reveal the female actor who's paired opposite Sushant. "We have finalised the girl but can't reveal her name right now," says Kapur. According to a source, a major recording studio in the city has been booked.