These 11 actresses are roped alongside Vidya Balan for ‘Begum Jaan’

Actress Vidya Balan has recently wrapped up the shooting of ‘Kahaani 2’ and is all geared up for the release of her upcoming Amitabh Bachchan starrer ‘TE3N’. But this is not all for the actress, who will be seen as a leading lady in ‘Begum Jaan’.

Vidya will be portraying the role of a madam in a brothel in the movie, which is the Hindi adaptation of Bengali film ‘Rajkahani’ directed by National Award winner Srijit Mukherji. As per a popular daily, several actresses have been zeroed in to play prostitutes living in the brothel in the film. Actresses like Pallavi Sharda of ‘Besharam’ fame, Gauahar Khan, Flora Saini of ‘Dhanak’, TV actress Ridhima Tiwari, Ravija Chauhan and Poonam Rajput are finalised for the films. Talking about it, director Srijit said, “The characters are set in the Partition era and have faced a lot of adversities in life, so I wanted actors who could understand the emotions, pain, and the never-say-die attitude. These girls fit the roles perfectly.”

‘Begam Jaan’ is a story a brothel of a newly-formed LOC with half of of the prostitutes staying in India, the other half in post-partition Pakistan. The movie revolves around the lives of 11 women living in the brothel. Talking about the film, Srijit further said, “I have been doing workshops with them since a month and have recommended to them books on the partition by authors like Urvashi Butalia, Suvir Kaul, and Joya Chatterji. Besides, we have also been discussing the backstories of their characters so they understand them better. Some of them are watching ‘Rajkahini’ as well.”

Singer-actress Ila Arun and Mishti who made her debut with Subhash Ghai’s ‘Kaanchi’ will also feature in the film. “They don’t play prostitutes but Ila Ji plays a character that ends up at the brothel seeking refuge and grows into a mother figure to the other inmates over time. Mishti arrives there for the same reason,” added Srijit.

The male cast includes Rajit Kapoor, Vivek Mushran, Rajesh Sharma, Pitobash, Ashish Vidyarthi and Sumit Nijhawan.

‘Begum Jaan’ will go on floors in mid-June 2016 and will be shot in Jharkhand, Punjab and Delhi.

Also Read: Vidya Balan: I don’t think you can call ‘Begum Jaan’ a remake of ‘Rajkahini’