Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan and Ranbir Kapoor are coming together on screen to play a fading superstar and a young director, respectively, says a media report.
Last week, Autograph, a Bengali film about a fading superstar (played by Prosenjeet), an ambitious new film director and his girlfriend who end up playing the superstar's co-star in a film that the director helms, became a surprise success in Kolkata.
Producer Madhu Mantena, who was busy focusing on the release of his two big Hindi films -- Jhootha Hi Sahi and Rakht Charitra -- was taken by surprise with the film's success. The Hindi version will be directed by Srijit Mukherjee, who also directed the Bengali version, and will star SRK and Kapoor.
Changes may have to be made to accommodate SRK's though, who obviously cannot play a 'fading' superstar. This is where the producer and director differ. While Mantena is all for fine-tuning it to make the Bengali to Hindi transition, director Mukherjee would rather go with the original plot.
Mantena doesn't deny the remake plans. "I think the era of remakes from regional languages into Hindi is back.
"We just need to make sure the regional flavour is not lost in Hindi. Ghajini was a smash-hit Telugu to Hindi remake. I am talking to at least five major Tamil-Telugu blockbuster directors about making their own films in Hindi." But the transition has to be complete.
"As much as we would have liked Prosenjeet to play the superstar in the Hindi adaptation, it won't work. We need a pan-India superstar." So SRK it is? "I'm not saying anything at the moment," he smiles.
In the Bengali film, Prosenjeet paid a tribute to the ultimate Bengali superstar -- Uttam Kumar. In the Hindi version Shah Rukh is expected to model his superstar's character on Amitabh Bachchan.
