MUMBAI MIRROR (April 20, 2016)

Begum Jaan, the Hindi remake of National Award winning director Srijit Mukherji's critically acclaimed Bengali Partition drama, Rajkahini will roll on June 10. Vidya Balan plays the title role accepting the baton from Rituparna Sengupta who impressed with her portrayal of the madam of a brothel in the original.

"For Bengal and Punjab, the Partition is a heartbreaking saga. I wish more movies would be made on this topic," asserts Srijit Mahesh Bhatt who was moved by the emotional starkness of Rajkahini which deals with the trauma of sex workers who are on the verge of being rendered homeless after the border between India and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) is drawn. The other 11 sex workers will be played by newcomers. Srijit is also coming up with crime drama, Zulfiqar, based on two Shakespearean tragedies, Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra.