Hindustan Times ST (Jaipur) - Hindustan Times (Jaipur) - City
Why Rituparna wasn’t chosen for Begum Jaan
AMY FATHER (JACKIE SHROFF) AND I ARE DIFFERENT PEOPLE WITH DIFFERENT PERSONALITIES TIGER SHROFF, ACTOR fter Rituparna Sengupta’s (far right) noteworthy performance in Srijit Mukherji’s (right) Bengali film Rajkahini (2015), many thought the director would also cast her in his Hindi debut, Begum Jaan. So, it obviously raised many eyebrows when Srijit roped in Vidya Balan to play the eponymous role. However, after the film failed to make a mark at the box office, and Rajkahini was a hit, the Srijitrituparna issue is in news again. Srijit points out that as Bollywood was new to him, he was determined to not repeat himself. “Begum Jaan was a new journey. So I was not looking forward to repeating any elements from my old journey. Not just Rituparna, I didn’t even repeat any other actor from Rajkahini. I wanted to explore everything afresh,” says the National Award winning director. Though Srijit’s decision of casting Vidya upset Rituparna, the two seemed to have resolved their issues, as Rituparna even promoted the film. “Rituparna is understanding enough to not give importance to such I WANT TO SETTLE DOWN EARLY. THAT WAY, I CAN GET DONE WITH IT AND CONTINUE MY CAREER ALIA BHATT, ACTOR things,” says Srijit. He was upset when she didn’t receive a National Award for her performance in Rajkahini. “I sincerely thought she gave it her all and totally broke herself for the role. So, I was disappointed when she didn’t win. But that doesn’t mean her performance was any less. Whenever there is a role worth her talent I would definitely work with her again,” says Srijit, who is known for his Bengali films such as Autograph (2010), and Chotushkone (2014).