Vidya to do special appearance in Big B-Nawaz thriller

Will do a special appearance in thriller, which rolls in November.

It's not easy getting the nod from Vidya Balan. The actress has turned down 10 biopics, including those revolving around Meena Kumari, India's first cardiologist Rakhma Bai, former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi, super cop Kiran Bedi and Bengal's Greta Garbo, Suchitra Sen. But she has agreed to play yesteryear actress Geeta Bali in a special appearance in the Marathi film, Ek Albela. Now, Mirror has learnt that Vidya recently committed to a Hindi film, TE3N, directed by Ribhu Dasgupta. Once again, it is a special appearance.

The thriller also features Amitabh Bachchan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui. It rolls in November and will be shot entirely in Kolkata.

Sujoy Ghosh, the creative producer, who has been involved with the project since its inception, reveals that it originated from Bachchan. "One day, we were chatting with sir and Ribhu sketched out the idea to him. He reacted instantly saying he was doing the film. When we told him we didn't even have a script, he instructed us to write one. He agreed to the film on the basis of just a thought," reminisces Sujoy.

They then approached Nawaz, who like Bachchan, is equally fond of Ribhu. He liked the riveting script and the many-layered character he was offered. Bachchan and he are the main leads and have author-backed roles. Buzz is, he's playing a boxer but Sujoy laughs off the rumour, saying, "No, that's not true. When you find out who he is, you'll be shocked. That's the suspense."

After roping in the two brilliant actors, the makers realised that they needed someone who can match up to them. "We were on tenterhooks wondering if it would be a "yes" or "no," but fortunately for us, Vidya was challenged by this special appearance pivotal to the plot and was quickly won over. This is the first time the three actors will be seen together in a film and it's an exciting casting," says Sujoy, who worked with the actress in Kahaani three years ago, but asserts that this film has "zero connection" with the 2012 thriller.

And why the connect with Kolkata? "The City of Joy is close to our hearts and we need any excuse to go back there. But you can't forcibly set a film in Kolkata. Fortunately, TE3N fits in because these three people are local inhabitants. We are hoping to wrap up the shooting by early January and target a mid-2016 release," he signs off.