Entertainment

Gurinder Chadha is ready to wear the director’s hat again. She’ll soon begin filming a movie on partition, to be shot in Delhi and Jodhpur, and is keen to offer the role of Nehru in it to Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan.

“This is my biggest challenge to date. I’ve been working on my partition film for some time now. The central character is Lord Mountbatten. The movie is set in January 1947 when Mountbatten was asked to oversee India and the movie ends in August 1947, so it’s a brief time span.

“But (it is) a huge canvas requiring tonnes and tonnes of research and scores of characters. I’ve spoken to some people including Naseer and Saif. Nehru’s role is a cameo, so I wonder if Saif would be willing to do it,” she said on phone from London.

The film’s central figure would be Lord Mountbatten, and either of the two Hollywood biggies — Colin Firth or Michael Fassbender – will step in to play the role.

The “Bend It Like Beckham” and “Bride and Prejudice” filmmaker has already locked locations for the shooting.

“I’ve already acquired the necessary permission to shoot everywhere in India including Rashtrapati Bhavan. So I am all set. I don’t have to shoot in Pakistan at all. This would be my ultimate dream project and I can’t wait for it to take off,” she added.

But she has to wait until October because an astrologer has advised her so.

“The wife of the author of the book, on which my partition film is based, is heavily into astrology. She says October is a good time to start,” she said.

Chadha was also in Mumbai last month for her friend Karan Johar’s 40th birthday party.

Photo Credit: Viral Bhayani