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Friday, 15th August 03:00 PM IST The coveted role of Meena Kumari in the bio-pic that her step-son Tajdar Amrohi is currently producing, has gone to the very talented Manisha Koirala. The actress who turns 44 this week couldn't have hoped for a better birthday gift. This, in spite of the fact Manisha Koirala and Shashilal Nair who is directing the bio-pic, have a tumultuous past history of conflict. Shashilal Nair and Manisha were very close personal and family friends. She did one of her best film 'Grahan', a film about rape, with Nair. In 2002 the two had a massive fall-out over the content of 'Ek Choti si Love Story' .The controversial film starring Manisha which Nair directed was about an adolescent’s wet-dreams about a sexy woman. Manisha accused Nair of doctoring the content and using a body-double to do the intimate shots. The matter got progressively dark and ugly and lethally legal. Nair was so disillusioned by the experience that he had he left Mumbai to settle down in England for good. Or so he thought, until Tajdar Amrohi dragged Nair back from England to direct the Meena Kumari bio-pic. Says Tajdar, “I could think of only two directors who could be on the same page as with me on this. One is my dear friend J.P.Dutta who is busy with his own film. The other was Shashilal Nair. I like the work ethics of South Indian filmmakers. And I like Shashi’s films like Angaar and Grahan.” Tajdar flew down to England to track down Nair for this project. Tajdar, who is Kamal Amrohi’s younger son and Meena Kumari’s step-son says, “I’ve known Shashlilal Nair for years. But we lost touch. I didn’t have Shashi’s number. I didn’t know where he was in England. I tracked him down in Manchester and insisted he pack his bags and accompany me back to India. I wouldn’t take a no for answer or let him come later. He came back with me and we started work on the project immediately.” Creative differences cropped up immediately. Tajdar is keen on Manisha Koirala. Nair is reluctant for obvious reasons. Furthermore, Nair wants to tap into secondary information on Meena Kumari available on the internet. Tajdar is vehemently opposed to this. “Why should we go to the internet to get information on my Choti Ammi when I’ve grown up with her, watched her from the closest quarters? I was one of the last people she spoke to before her untimely death. The internet is filled with misinformation about Choti Ammi’s relationship with my father. Why should Shashi depend on wrong data about Choti Ammi when I know all the true facts?” While there are healthy creative differences over the facts that are being put in the screenplay the question of the leading lady is currently the most troublesome stress-point between Tajdar and his director. Says Tajdar, “There will be four actresses playing Choti Ammi from the age of 6 to 39 when she passed away. I’ve zeroed in on a particular actress and she has agreed. Shashilal Nair has problems in the past. But I am telling him to forget what happened earlier and start afresh.” Nair has already started shooting the Meena Kumari bio-pic. |