Naseeruddin Shah Replaced Amitabh Bachchan in ‘Maharathi’

Naseeruddin Shah has taken up the role that was initially offered to Amitabh Bachchan in the movie Maharathi, which is a big-screen adaptation of a popular Gujarati comic play starring Bollywood actor Paresh Rawal. Amitabh Bachchan turned down the offer, citing that the role had shades of grey, told Paresh Rawal who directed the play in Gujarati.

Naseeruddin Shah was supposed play another role in the movie Maharathi, but after the opting out of Amitabh Bachchan, Naseeruddin Shah took up the role. Amitabh Bachchan earlier rejected another movie titled Shoot On Sight, based on a story related to July 2007 London bombings. Considering the controversial issue, Mr. Bachchan turned down the offer. The movie has recently been banned in Pakistan as the movie addresses a controversial issue.

The movie Maharathi was initially expected to be directed by Vikram Bhatt, but he was later replaced by Shivum Nair. Paresh Rawal explained that he did not take the director’s role as he thought that a fresh cinematic vision was needed on the play. The shooting of the movie is about to end and Paresh Rawal is happy to be working with actors like Om Puri, Boman Irani.

About the movie, Paresh Rawal said that Maharathi is a classic comic thriller. He plays the role of a driver, the same role he played in the play. Terming the script watertight, Mr. Rawal said everything and everyone in the film is in right place.

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Vidya Balan Learning UP Dialect for her Next Film “Ishkiyaan”

For the forthcoming film Ishkiyaan, Bollywood actress Vidya Balan is now learning a UP dialect. Directed by Abhishek Chaubey, the Vishal Bharadwaj production features Naseeruddin Shah alongside Arshad Warsi and Vidya Balan. The scrip is written by Vishal and Abhishek and the film features the same language that is heard in Omkara, directed by Vishal.

Khabrein reported:

A unit source informs, "Vishal and Abhishek have written the script of Ishkiyaan. The film has the same lingo that one hears in Vishal’s Omkara. When Vishal narrated the script to Vidya, she was apprehensive about her ability to deliver the dialogues fluently in this dialect. Being a South Indian, she was not very comfortable with the rural dialect. Though Vidya is fluent in Hindi, she insisted on learning the language before taking on the role."

It seems pretty good that Vidya is taking professional training before turning to camera. With her fluency in Hindi, the actress could have gone to deliver the dialogues without taking any lesion on the dialect. However, known as a perfectionist, Vidya Balan, went through the classes on that dialect to deliver the perfect diction in the movie.

The actress said that Ishkiyaan emerges with an unusual concept and she is happy to share screen space with Naseeruddin Shah in the movie. She portrays the character that fools her uncle and her nephew, portrayed by Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi respectively.