Wishing upon the stars

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rosewood104

@rosewood104

Dazzler

Posted: 18 years ago

Wishing upon the stars

Rohit Roy will direct a film produced by wife Manasi. Now, Hema Malini and Naseeruddin Shah are on his wish list

Rohit Roy with Manasi

Small screen's wild-child Rohit Roy is all set to direct a sensitive Hindu-Muslim love story. For those who are wondering about who the producer is, there is some more news. Wife Manasi is pumping money into the project and therefore Rohit needn't worry! What's more, he intends to cast stalwarts Hema Malini and Naseeruddin in what he claims to be a 'sensitive' film.

Of course, Rohit is excited. And says in a child-like manner, "I'll be directing the story myself. It's a sensitive Hindu-Muslim story." Rohit wants to cast Naseeruddin Shah and Hema Malini in the lead. "They're on top of my wish list. And I can't see any other two actors in the roles," says Rohit. Obviously, it remains to be seen if his wish list will turn into reality.

Hema Malini

The last time Naseer-Hema came together it was for Aruna Raje's Rihaee two decades ago. Last year, they were supposed to come together for Milan Luthria's Hat Trick. Both backed out at the eleventh hour.

It seems wife Manasi hasn't floated a company just to give a boost to Rohit's directorial aspirations. That he will direct a film is just a concomitant benefit of having a producer spouse. "My wife Manasi gifted me a fully-designed website for my birthday last week. It was the coolest gift I've ever received. She's also started a movie production house Magicworks. Hopefully, we'll be producing a lot of quality films," he says.

Their first production venture, a full-length feature- film in collaboration with Sanjay Gupta's White Feather starts in May. He says, "It's entitled Pankh. And it's to be directed by the award-winning Bengali director Sudipto Chattopadhyay."

Naseeruddin Shah

Manasi Joshi-Roy's company and Sanjay Gupta's White Feather have also tied up for three of the short stories in Gupta's Dus Kahaniyan series. "One of them will be directed by Gupts (that's what the producer's friends call him). Another short story will be directed by Meghna Gulzar. My wife and I had to back out of Meghna's Just Married. Now's our chance to work together," he says.

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