Director Gurinder Chaddha, best known for her films like Bend It Like Beckham and Bride And Prejudice, was in India a few weeks ago to meet a couple of Bollywood faces. For those who've come in late, she met Abhishek Bachchan and roped him in to play a pivotal part in her next, her dream project, The Viceroy House. The film, that also stars Huma Qureshi and Colin Firth, revolves around the last few months that Lord Mountbatten spent in India as the last serving British Viceroy.
A source close to the project reveals that Bachchan Jr was not the only actor she met. Gurinder also had discreet meetings with Saif Ali Khan and Naseeruddin Shah for the same project. SpotboyE.com has it that she has spoken to Saif to play Nehru and Naseer to play Mohammed Ali Jinnah.
She had previously spoken to both the actors in 2012 when she was more than prepared to take the film on floors. Out of the two, Naseer had given his consent. His status remains unchanged, but Saif seems keener to work on the film this time around.
The Viceroy House, revolving around the partition, was to be shot in Delhi and Jodhpur. Gurinder had also acquired permission to shoot everywhere else in India including the Rashtrapati Bhavan but had no plans to step into Pakistan. The movie is set in January 1947 when Mountbatten was asked to oversee India and the movie ends in August 1947.
Nehru's role, according to her original plan, was just a cameo. But this time, it's apparently better fleshed out. Chadha has been working on the partition film for over four years now.
Saif, who loves period dramas, is preparing to start Vishal Bhardwaj's WWII drama, Rangoon, in Burma next month.