I thought of Preity Zinta
I approached Rahul Bose first, and he agreed to be a part of the film after reading the script.
But I did not have a producer then. It wasn't a typical Hindi film, so getting a producer was tough. After a year, I had virtually given up the idea of getting one.
It was difficult to get the project together because I was a first-time director, Rahul was not a mainstream actor, and the film is not classical Hindi film. I was ready to write another script. But Rahul hadn't forgotten it and set up a meeting with PNC. They loved it, and agreed to produce it immediately.
Mallika was not my choice, she was Rongita Nandy's choice. I resisted because Mallika came with an image. I hadn't seen Murder until then. My impressions were based on Khwahish. When I narrated the script to her, I was reluctant. But Rahul asked me to think about it. So I did.
The more I met her after that, the more I started warming up to her. Then, I saw Murder, and got comfortable with the idea.
When I was scripting it, I pictured John Cusack and Meg Ryan doing the film. I think Preity Zinta comes very close to Meg Ryan.
Advertisement
