Asira Tarannum (MID-DAY; October 24, 2014)

He worked with both his daughters in the recently released Khoobsurat — Sonam Kapoor as the lead actress and Rhea as the co-producer. Now, Anil Kapoor is believed to be interested in making a film for his son, Harshvardhan. It will be co-produced by Rhea.

Sources say the film was to go on the floors before Khoobsurat but was pushed ahead due to certain issues.
“At that time, Harshvardhan was also busy prepping for Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s Mirziya, which will mark his debut in the industry. It will be extensively shot in Udaipur,” a source says.

However, now, things have been carefully planned and the unit will leave for the US next week. “Yes, Harshvardhan is doing the film. A week-long shoot was planned in Mumbai but it was called off. So, they will finish the shoot in US and then go ahead with the Mumbai schedule,” another source says.

The film’s music will be scored by AR Rahman.

Ankur Pathak (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 22, 2014)

Filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra announced yesterday that he has finalised Saiyami Kher to play Sahiban in Mirzia, his next venture after Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. Both Saiyami and Ayesha Kapoor went through a four-month workshop for the same role, with the former outrunning the Black actress, by a "very close" margin.

"Saiyami worked on the character for several months and after a point we knew we had our Sahiban," he says, adding that he was unaware that she is Usha Kiran's granddaughter and Shabana Azmi's niece. "My story is a fresh expression of love so I knew only newcomers could pull it off. I cast both Saiyami and Harshvardhan (Anil Kapoor's son) purely on artistic merit."

The film will roll by September and it is the "biggest challenge" Rakyesh has attempted so far. "In terms of the canvas and grandeur, it is bigger than anything I have ever done. Mirzia is a tragic love story, a musical with lots of action," explains the filmmaker as he gears up to fly off to the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne where Bhaag Milkha Bhaag has won three awards. "India has already honoured us with the National Award," he beams.

Asira Tarannum (MID-DAY; March 13, 2014)

The industry grapevine is buzzing with the news that model Saiyami Kher — Tanve Azmi’s niece and Usha Kiran’s granddaughter — is one of the two actresses to have been shortlisted for Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s Mirza Sahiba. The director is launching Anil Kapoor’s son, Harshvardhan, in this film.

A source says that Rakeysh has been scouting for fresh faces for Mirza Sahibaan and auditioning a lot of people. “He chose Harshvardhan because he has the fierce intensity of a lover in him combined with an innocent softness in his eyes.As far as the actress is concerned, two names have been shortlisted.
Saiyami Kher is one of them,” adds the source. Saiyami, is now awaiting the release of her debut Telugu film.

Apparently, she consults her aunts, Tanvi Azmi and Shabana Azmi, before signing on a film.
Rakeysh did not respond to our message regarding Saiyami’s chances of starring in Mirza Ghalib, which is a contemporary love tragedy inspired from folklore. Gulzar has penned the film’s script.

DNA (January 11, 2014)

For Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s ambitious love epic Mirza Sahibaan, music composers Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy have been thrown a challenge that no muician in India has ever confronted.

Shankar Mahadevan and his partners have been asked by Mehra to create a full-on musical where the lovers would converse entirely in song-form whose lyrics are written by Gulzar. Says a source, “The format is something never seen in our cinema before. The lovers will converse in musical form. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy are busy recording nearly 180 minutes of songs.”

The closest we’ve come to this format was in Chetan Anand’s Heer Ranjha where the lovers conversed in verses, written by Kaifi Azmi.

No doubt this will be a huge leap ahead for the language of Hindi cinema and also a slap in the face of those who feel the song-and-dance formula has run its course. Mehra says, “We are exploring the musical genre in a most comprehensive format. In that sense, Mirza Sahibaan would be genre-breaker. At the same time, we’ve to keep in mind the changing times. I am not sure whether we are taking the Broadway route, the folk-theatre route or the Bollywood route. A new form of expression will emerge as we work.”

Anil Kapoor’s son Harshvardhan plays the lead in the film.