By Hindustan Times
Filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra was eager about casting Aishwarya Rai for the role of Lalita in Parineeta as he was undecided of the acting abilities of the then newcomer Vidya Balan. Vidya made her debut in Bollywood with 2005 hit Parineeta, a musical produced by Chopra.
"When we considered Parineeta, I immediately considered a face like Aishwarya Rai. The nature of the lady is like two men fall in love with her...so the heroine should be bigger. But Pradeep Sarkar (director) told me about her (Vidya) I USED TO BE like let me see what she will be able to do," Chopra told reporters here, last night.
"But then we tested and tried her (Vidya) and he or she cleared it," he said. Parineeta was adapted from 1914 Bengali novella of the similar name by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. The film starred Vidya, Saif Ali Khan and Sanjay Dutt in pivotal roles. Talking about other roles -- Shekar that was essayed by Saif Ali Khan and Girish, played by Sanjay Dutt, Chopra said, "I had called up Sanjay saying there's a role for you in my film and he agreed. We would have liked the nature of Girish (Sanjay) to be bigger than Shekar (Saif Ali Khan)."
Also, Rekha, a yesteryear actress had a cameo performance in an evening club as a singer on this film.
"For this cameo we went to who`s-who of Bollywood but then we realised it needs to be someone who's a classic diva and who better than her (Rekha). I had gone to satisfy her (Rekha) after Chopra had spoken to her in regards to the appearance. It was fantastic meeting her...she does her own styling, hair, make-up, photography.Even for the song she had valuable inputs to offer. It was amazing and we had a gorgeous time working with her," director Pradeep Sarkar said.
