'Some actresses falsely claimed to have been approached for SARABJIT'

Sandeep Singh, co-producer of the Sarabjit biopic, finds his Dalbir Kaur in the talented actress

After weeks of speculation around the casting, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has bagged the coveted role of Dalbir Kaur in the Sarabjit Singh biopic. The actress is extremely excited to play the challenging role. In an exclusive chat with 9xe.com, the film's co-producer Sandeep Singh talks about the film and its leading lady. Excerpts:

How did you get Aishwarya to agree to play Dalbir Kaur?
When this film came to me, I asked Omung Kumar to direct it. He took some time to say yes since he was working on some other film. After Zeishan Qadri (co-producer) and I convinced him, we got a new writer Uttkarshni Vashisht to pen a fresh draft of the story. Rajesh Berry had written it earlier.

And then?
Interestingly, I saw that some actresses started talking in the media that they had been asked to play Dalbir Kaur! And mind you, we hadn't approached any of those.

Hmmm...
We wanted an experienced actress to get into Dalbir's shoes. We got in touch with Aishwarya (Rai Bachchan), who responded immediately. She told us that she is kicked about this role and even rolled out her dates starting this October. We start with a 70-day schedule in Punjab. I plan to release the film in Cannes next year, followed by a worldwide release.

Did Aishwarya have any reservations about playing Dalbir Kaur?
Not at all. Aishwarya is a changed person. Everybody grows with time. She is ready to go all out on this role.

Coming back to the casting, there were lots of rumours that Kangana (Ranaut) or Priyanka (Chopra) will get the role...
As I said, we hadn't spoken to any of the people who had started talking in the media.

You were the CEO of Bhansali's production house. Did your equation with Aishwarya help in getting her nod for the script?
She knows me since a long time. Yes, I did go to her place a few times when I held the CEO position. We have a good equation.

Will Dalbir Kaur be providing inputs? Or do you have all the data with you?
She is coming to Mumbai next month. Woh jitna bolegi, utna kam hoga. Omung has to better on his previous film, Mary Kom.

Did Amitabh or Abhishek intervene in the script at any point?
Not at all.

https://www.9xe.com/article/aishwarya-is-a-changed-person-everyone-grows-with-time-2944