Kajol’s first Hindi film in two years is set to flag off on Wednesday with Pradeep Sarkar in the director’s chair
Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 22, 2018)

Mirror (November 1, 2017) had earlier reported that Kajol’s next, which has the actress playing a single parent, will be directed by National Award-winning filmmaker Pradeep Sarkar. The actress’s last Hindi film outing was the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer 2015 action-comedy Dilwale while she was seen in the Dhanush-starrer Tamil film VIP 2 last year. Now, we have learnt that she will start shooting for the film, tentatively titled Ela, from January 24. It is being produced by her actor-husband Ajay Devgn and Jayantilal Gada.

“Full-fledged prep is currently on for the big day. We have been told to take the first shot at a particular time. It is a light-hearted mother-son story and we are scheduled to shoot Kajol’s introduction sequence where she is ready to go some place,” revealed Sarkar from a Mumbai studio where a set is being erected.

The 62-year-old filmmaker had earlier admitted that he was offered the script a few months ago, and while it took him some time to understand the underlying Gujarati tone, he eventually fell in love with the emotional story.

“It has some really strong characters and there’s a good chance of people getting really close to them after watching the film,” exulted the filmmaker who has signed newcomer Riddhi Sen to play Kajol’s son and roped in Bengali actor Tota Roy Chowdhury, earlier seen in the Vidya Balan-starrer Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh and Madhur Bhandarkar’s Indu Sarkar last year, to play a pivotal role. “The boy will be joining us at a later stage. In fact, we won’t be shooting too long on day one and will start properly only from January 25,” Sarkar informs.

The director also reveals that there is another actor in the cast but wants to keep him a secret for now. Leading up to the shoot he has had some rigorous workshops with his cast and made an audio board where the entire exercise was recorded. “That will help not only the actors during rehearsals but also the costume designers and the rest of the crew during the shoot,” he points out.

Prod Sarkar on Kajol’s look and he quips, “She always looks so beautiful. All her films are my favourite. I have been wanting to work with her since a long time and it’s fantastic we are finally getting together,” he conludes on an excited note.