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LAZMI SIGNS SUSH & KARAN FOR 'THE PROSTITUTE...'
By Aira
In The News
Kalpana Lajmi's last directorial venture 'Kyon' may not have made a dent at the box office, but the spunky woman resurfaced with a film titled 'The Prostitute and The Postman'. And the director has confirmed that Sushmita Sen and Karan Nath will be starring in the film. Sushmita sounded quite excited about Lajmi's film. "I met Kalpanaji and heard the story. I liked it and have consented to doing it," she says. While Karan had been finalized quite some time ago, the difficulty came in getting someone to play the prostitute. " It's been quite sometime back that I was signed for this film but they couldn't get an actress and anyway I had some other projects to finish so I got busy with them but now it seems that Sushmita is opposite me. I am excited to do this film as Kalpanaji is directing it," said Karan.
The prostitute's role was first offered to Bipasha Basu. "I met Bipasha on her sets and sat with her in her trailer. She heard the story and said she'll let me know in 24 hours. When she did not revert, I started calling her, but could not get her on the line. I made nearly 100 calls before her secretary finally informed me that his madam was not interested. This is grossly unprofessional," said Lajmi.
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Next, the director of films like 'Darmiyaan' and 'Daman' approached Preity Zinta. "Preity declined the offer saying that she had played a prostitute in 'Chori Chori Chupke Chupke' and was not keen to repeat it, at least in the near future. What surprised me most about this girl was that she seemed flabbergasted when I told her about the budget of my film. She asked if films could be made in such a small budget. To date I don't think she is inclined to any cinema other than the Chopra-Johar feel good cinema," she said.
Eventually she zeroed in on Sushmita who, she says, agreed to do the film at a reduced price of her normal remuneration. "I saw 'Filhaal', 'Aankhen', 'Samay' and 'Paisa Vasool' and think she was truly good in all these," Lajmi explained.
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Estimated to be an Rs 25 million project, it is inspired from a real story. "It is Bhupen Hazarika's concept. He had seen a relationship between a postman and a prostitute-taking place on the border of Bhutan and Assam. I wrote the script and finalized Karan for the role of the postman. I wanted the postman to look very innocent. Karan fits the role," said the director. Set during the winter, the film will be shot in and around Dehra Dun in a single schedule of about 45 days starting January 2005. Unlike what you must be thinking or imagining with the subject of the film, it hardly contains any steamy scenes or intimate moments between the prostitute and the postman. "It's a very decent and clean film also not very long it's 135- minute long," said Lajmi who is yet to select the remaining cast.
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