By Jilawatan

Vidya Balan has been signed for the film MILTE HAIN which is said to be a mature romantic comedy. The film would be directed by Meghna Gulzar and what her as well as producer Sanjay Gupta is the fact that he would be working with Vidya Balan for the first time.

“It should be great fun to have Vidya in the film. For a mature film like this, we need an actress of substance and we have it in the form of Vidya. She has been fantastic in ISHQIYA and PAA. Also, since Meghna has already proven her mettle by directing ‘Poornamashi’ (Amrita Singh, Minissha Lamba) in DUS KAHANIYAAN, I am confident that she would handle the unique subject of MILTE HAIN quite well”, Gupta sounds confident here.

The film is based on a play titled ‘Double Act’ which has been written by Barry Creyton. Since Gupta had already procured rights of the play and adapted it into the film’s screenplay, he wanted to bring the film on floors soon. Also, since Meghna was already through with the entire writing process, the need of the hour was to speed up the process on getting all necessary logistics in place.

“That’s right”, admits Sanjay, “Much hard work has already gone into putting things right on paper. Now it’s a matter of filming it. We are finalizing dates with the cast and in all likelihood we would be going on floors early next year. In fact by March 2011, we plan to finish the film as well. We would be shooting extensively in London and Edinburgh.”

Meanwhile the hunt is on for the male lead. “That too would be announced pretty soon. Stay tuned”, is all that Gupta is willing to commit before signing off.

By Jilawatan

Filmmaker Sanjay Gupta is pretty pleased with himself. Not only has he got Vidya Balan on board for his film titled Milte Hain, he has also signed Vishal Bhardwaj to compose the music for it. “Vishal agreed to do the film immediately after reading the script. It’s been a while since Vishal composed music for an outside project, the last being U Me Aur Hum and Haal-E Dil. So it is like a coup for me,” said Gupta, adding that Gulzar is writing the lyrics.
The film, which will be directed by Meghna Gulzar, is an adaptation of Barry Creiton’s play Double Act. It is about a couple that meets 15 months after getting divorced and the drama that follows. “It is a highly successful Australian play that has staged shows all over the US and the UK for the last five years. In fact, there has also been an Indian version, Anything But Love, in which Samir Soni and Mandira Bedi play the lead roles. It is Samir who took me to see the play, and that’s when I saw the potential to adapt it for the big screen. I have already purchased the rights,” Gupta disclosed.
The film will take off early next year and will be shot in England. After this film wraps up, Gupta will start work on the remake of the Spanish hit Ladron Que Roba Ladron which is presently in the scripting stage.

By Jilawatan

It was reported that filmmaker Mani Ratnam is planning to cast actor R. Madhavan and Vidya Balan for his next movie. He clarified in his latest saying that he is unfortunately not the part of the love story that Mani Ratnam is making with Vidya Balan.

Madhavan and Vidya chemistry was liked by one and all in the film Guru and so he too was keen to do a film soon with her. Earlier Sanjay Gupta was also looking to pair them again but the film never took off and now when the reports of Mani bringing them together it is also not true. There was also a recent report of filmmaker Sanjay Gupta trying to sign the pair for his next project, which did not take off. Earlier in an interview, Madhavan expressed his interest to work with Vidya again provided some really big project comes on their way.

After Guru they could only appear together in one of the TV-ads.

By Jilawatan

This rain sensuous Vidya Balan was found enjoying rains in Bandra. And guess who was accompanying her! No there was no secret lover of Vidya but her close friend Meghna Gulzar.
Still the site was as interesting as the two ladies were dressed in traditional attire and had gone to watch a play. Apart from Vidya and her friend rains did not hamper the spirit of the actors Mandira Bedi and Samir Soni who sizzled on stage and Sanjay Gupta and his wife Anu couldn’t help cheering for them as the play came to an end.
Also, Sapna Bhavnani was enjoying the play with her friends and she joined Raell Padamsee backstage later to congratulate her.

By Jilawatan

Although the audience would love to watch Madhavan and Vidya Balan create the same kind of magic that they did in Guru and the ads they did together, the actor says he wouldn’t want to work with Vidya again. Now don’t get him wrong, it’s not like Madhavan had a problem working with the beautiful actress.

On the contrary, Maddy says he wouldn’t want to work with Vidya until they get a script that truly justifies their pairing. “People are expecting too much from our jodi after the ads and that hasn’t helped us. It’s better to retain that kind of magic than ruin it. Unless we get a script that takes that magic ten times higher, I wouldn’t want to do a film with her,” he says. Incidentally, the two were supposed to appear in a Sanjay Gupta film but it got shelved. “I’m not so sure what’s happening about it,” adds Madhavan.