Diya Mirza ends Arshad's heroine crisis

By Subhash K Jha

After going through a whole roster of could-be leading ladies from Konkona Sen to Urvashi Sharma (who was almost finalized) Arshad Warsi has finally found a leading lady for his first home production tentatively titled I Believe In Angels …just weeks before the film is scheduled to go on the floors in London in July.

Though Arshad is tight-lipped about his heroine crisis getting the right girl for his first film to be directed by Kabeer Kaushik has not been easy.

Says a source, "All the girls who were Arshad's pals turned him down. Arshad is in a peculiar place right now. He's seen as a natural scene-stealer but not leading-man material.

The big heroines are wary of being paired with him. Lara Dutta said no to Short Cut though it was an Anil Kapoor production when she head Arshad was one of the leading men."

Diya gladly said yes. "First of all I've always enjoyed Arshad's performances and it's an honour to be in a film to be produced by him. Then when I heard the script I simply fell in love with my role and and the script. Every character is so beautifully written I'm sure Arshad's first production is going to turn out to be very special."

Diya plays a very sweet angelic character in I Believe In Angels.

"I've that image. And I suit it. Though I'm not bound by the sweet image I don't mind being perceived as ideal for angelic roles at a time when every second girl enjoys playing the wicked one."