DNA (January 29, 2015)


The London-based Bend It Like Beckham director arrives in Mumbai next week for casting. The film will chronicle the last six months of Lord Mountbatten’s tenure in India, which marked the end of the British Raj.

Shares the director, “There are these so-called facts that we grew up reading about Mountbatten’s closing months in India. And there are these secret documents which I’ve unearthed. These point to another truth which I’ll reveal in my film.”

She has bought the rights to two very important books on the subject as well. “My husband Paul Mayeda Berges (who has co-scripted The Viceroy’s House) and I have bought the rights of two books Narinder Singh’s Sarla’s The Shadow Of The Great Game and Larry Collins & Dominique Lapierre’s Freedom At Midnight. These, plus the documents we’ve unearthed, will serve as the basis of the plot,” says Gurinder.

Buzz is, Chadha was keen on casting Colin Firth as Mountbatten, Naseeruddin Shah as Jinnah and Saif Ali Khan as Jawaharlal Nehru, but she counters, “I want actors who fit perfectly into every part. I see a lot of very natural actors in India now. And I’m eager to work with them.”

Gurinder will also go location- hunting during her trip to India. “I’ll be shooting in and around Jodhpur and Rajasthan.”