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A novel idea
Rani Mukerji to work with filmmaker Deepa Mehta in the screen adaptation of Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children
SUBHASH K JHA
Last month, Rani Mukerji had a secret, productive and extremely encouraging meeting with author Salman Rushdie and director Deepa Mehta in Toronto. Rushdie and Mehta are coming together for a screen adaptation of the former's celebrated Booker-winning novel Midnight's Children. According to reliable sources, Rani met the author and the filmmaker for a good two hours and is now part of the screen adaptation. The buzz is Rushdie took a great fancy to her.
Deepa is evasive about confirming Rani's presence in Midnight's Children. She says, "Yes, Salman Rushdie and I met her informally in Toronto, but nothing has been finalised."
However, reliable sources insist Rani is part of the coveted project which already has Shabana Azmi, Seema Biswas and Nandita Das in its cast.
Hinting at the possibility of working with Rani, Deepa says, "I don't know about Rani's current box-office status but I have always wanted to work with her. I saw her work in Hey Ram, Black, Bunty Aur Babli and Veer-Zaara and loved it. She is among the best talent in India today. Whether it is Preity Zinta (Heaven On Earth), Shabana Azmi (Fire) or Seema Biswas (Water), I have always enjoyed working with strong, female actors."
Rani too is on the lookout for a challenge that will take her beyond the roles she has done in Hindi cinema so far. Interestingly, she has never worked with a female director in her entire career. She came close to working with Mira Nair in The Namesake. She lost the prized role to Tabu because she didn't want to play Abhishek Bachchan's mother. Later, Abhishek too opted out of the project.
After Dil Bole Hadippa bombed at the BoxOffice, everybody pretty much wrote off Rani who worked real hard to make her big comeback. The advertisers pulled her out of their contracts and with no work in her hands, Rani made her television debut with judging Dance India Dance. However after director Deepa Mehta who last directed the Priety Zinta starrer Heaven on Earth announced her next film to be an adaptation of Booker winning writer Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children, her hunt for the lead actress had begun. Sources say she recently invited Rani to Toronto and they had a meeting with her over the script and the role. Deepa who has always been in awe of Rani had Rushdie giving her the the thumbs up for Rani to essay the lead role in the film.
Deepa spoke about Rani saying, 'I have always wanted to work with Rani in the past. I saw her work in Hey Ram, Black, Bunty Aur Babli and Veer-Zaara and loved it. She is among the best talent in India today. Whether it is Preity Zinta (Heaven On Earth), Shabana Azmi (Fire) or Seema Biswas (Water), I have always enjoyed working with strong, female actors.' However Deepa rubbished rumours of Rani being confirmed for the role saying, 'Yes, Salman Rushdie and I met her informally in Toronto, but nothing has been finalised.' However a source says otherwise, "Deepa has made her mind and cant wait to start working with Rani in the near future. Rani on the other hand wants to do something substantial an hard-hitting such as Black and Veer Zaara and is tired of people putting her down for her past mistakes. She knows that Deepa focuses on her female characters and makes them stand out in her films, Rani needs that the most at this point of time in her career."
Rani Mukerji to work with filmmaker Deepa Mehta in the screen adaptation of Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children
SUBHASH K JHA
Last month, Rani Mukerji had a secret, productive and extremely encouraging meeting with author Salman Rushdie and director Deepa Mehta in Toronto. Rushdie and Mehta are coming together for a screen adaptation of the former's celebrated Booker-winning novel Midnight's Children. According to reliable sources, Rani met the author and the filmmaker for a good two hours and is now part of the screen adaptation. The buzz is Rushdie took a great fancy to her.
Deepa is evasive about confirming Rani's presence in Midnight's Children. She says, "Yes, Salman Rushdie and I met her informally in Toronto, but nothing has been finalised."
However, reliable sources insist Rani is part of the coveted project which already has Shabana Azmi, Seema Biswas and Nandita Das in its cast.
Hinting at the possibility of working with Rani, Deepa says, "I don't know about Rani's current box-office status but I have always wanted to work with her. I saw her work in Hey Ram, Black, Bunty Aur Babli and Veer-Zaara and loved it. She is among the best talent in India today. Whether it is Preity Zinta (Heaven On Earth), Shabana Azmi (Fire) or Seema Biswas (Water), I have always enjoyed working with strong, female actors."
Rani too is on the lookout for a challenge that will take her beyond the roles she has done in Hindi cinema so far. Interestingly, she has never worked with a female director in her entire career. She came close to working with Mira Nair in The Namesake. She lost the prized role to Tabu because she didn't want to play Abhishek Bachchan's mother. Later, Abhishek too opted out of the project.
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After Dil Bole Hadippa bombed at the BoxOffice, everybody pretty much wrote off Rani who worked real hard to make her big comeback. The advertisers pulled her out of their contracts and with no work in her hands, Rani made her television debut with judging Dance India Dance. However after director Deepa Mehta who last directed the Priety Zinta starrer Heaven on Earth announced her next film to be an adaptation of Booker winning writer Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children, her hunt for the lead actress had begun. Sources say she recently invited Rani to Toronto and they had a meeting with her over the script and the role. Deepa who has always been in awe of Rani had Rushdie giving her the the thumbs up for Rani to essay the lead role in the film.
Deepa spoke about Rani saying, 'I have always wanted to work with Rani in the past. I saw her work in Hey Ram, Black, Bunty Aur Babli and Veer-Zaara and loved it. She is among the best talent in India today. Whether it is Preity Zinta (Heaven On Earth), Shabana Azmi (Fire) or Seema Biswas (Water), I have always enjoyed working with strong, female actors.' However Deepa rubbished rumours of Rani being confirmed for the role saying, 'Yes, Salman Rushdie and I met her informally in Toronto, but nothing has been finalised.' However a source says otherwise, "Deepa has made her mind and cant wait to start working with Rani in the near future. Rani on the other hand wants to do something substantial an hard-hitting such as Black and Veer Zaara and is tired of people putting her down for her past mistakes. She knows that Deepa focuses on her female characters and makes them stand out in her films, Rani needs that the most at this point of time in her career."
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