Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 10, 2017)

Amitabh Bachchan has lent his voice to National Award winning director Srijit Mukherji’s Bollywood directorial debut Begum Jaan. The opening sequence of the period drama which unfolds soon after the Partition, will have him introduce the theme.

While Big B has earlier done voiceovers for films like Satyajit Ray’s Shatranj Ke Khiladi, Ashutosh Gowarikar’s Lagaan and more recently Hindi-Telugu bilingual The Ghazi Attack, he has never collaborated with the Bhatts before.

Producer Mahesh Bhatt told Mirror, “It’s very generous of Mr Bachchan to give his time and attention to this significant film coming from the banner. It’s an unusual creation by Srijit and his voice sets the tone and context for the film which deals with the birth of our nation. It’s a painful chapter in our history and of our nation and Srijit wished for Mr Bachchan do the voiceover and my brother Mukesh was prompt in giving expression to Srijit’s desire. The manner in which Mr Bachchan has spoken the important and poignant words is a precursor to this emotionally powerful film.”

Begum Jaan which toplines Vidya Balan, is the Hindi adaptation of Srijit’s Bengali film, Rajkahini, which follows the Bengal Partition through the newlydrawn LoC between India and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) which runs right through a brothel which houses 11 women.

Given the subject and the profession the women are in, the film, Bhatt admits, has a few cuss words. But despite this it had an unusually smooth encounter with the Censor Board. “They were overwhelmed by the content and surprisingly supportive because they felt the film had integrity and its heart was in the right place. We had to do away with a few expletives, in two places the words were changed keeping them close to the originals, but otherwise they did not tamper with the film. It was one of our rarest of rare encounters with the CBFC,” he signed off.

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MEANWHILE...Vidya Balan moves like Madhuri Dixit on Kapil Sharma's comedy show

On Kapil Sharma’s comedy show Vidya Balan, requested her Begum Jaan costar Ila Arun to croon her Khal Nayak charttopper, “Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai” and replicated Madhuri Dixit’s bosomheaving moves.

A source reveals, “When the subject of “Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai” came up, Ila turned emotional, saying that while it’s often dismissed as a vulgar song the lyrics conveys the importance of a woman’s heart. Impressed Vidya broke into the jig.”