Vidya Balan has a busy 2008 ahead of her. While she readies for the release of Kismat Konnection in nine days time, news has come in that Balan will be replacing Rani Mukherji in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s next production.”Yes I am doing Chenab Gandhi with Mr. Bachchan and Harman (Baweja). The film is being directed by someone who has assisted Sanjay for very long. I am very excited to be a part of the film,” says Balan.
While the actress acknowledged her appearance in the film, she said she knew nothing about Rani’s involvement. “I don’t know anything about that,” is all she said.
But a source close to the production house says that initially Mukherji was very much in the running.
“When Sanjay was making Black he had mentioned the film’s idea to both Rani and Mr. Bachchan. After Saawariya, Sanjay needed to take a break for a while… considering all the backlash he received. But when he came back to the drawing board and began casting for the film Rani found herself out of running. And next came the announcement that Vidya had been signed along with Harman for the film,” says the source.
Now the big question is did Bhansali dump one of his favourite actresses who has been having a dry spell at the box office for a long time or did the negative review that Rani received for Saawariya force her to part ways with Bhansali?
