Bharati Dubey (MID-DAY; November 1, 2014)

Women-centric films are all the rage in Bollywood now. Prakash Jha, who is the latest to follow the trend, has sought inspiration for his Gangaajal sequel from the life and achievements of a woman cop in Madhya Pradesh. Gangaajal (2003) starred Ajay Devgn and Gracy Singh.

Says Jha, “I chose to have a female protagonist in my film since it is a tribute to a female police officer in Madhya Pradesh, whose appearance belies her firebrand spirit. I cannot reveal her name at the moment, though.” There is no confirmation about the actress who will play the lead in his film. However, speculation is rife that Kareena Kapoor Khan has been approached for the role. We contacted Kareena, but she did not respond to our query.

Though Jha had initially decided to cast Devgn in the sequel, the story demanded that an actress play the pivotal role. “Ajay is not in the film because there is no role of a male cop in the film. But he loved the story and has associated himself as the presenter of the film. I intend to work with him on many more such projects,” adds Jha.

Devgn will be seen in the filmmaker’s next project titled Satsang.