Monica agrees to play Sonia- The Times of India

Monica agrees to play Sonia
Subhash K Jha, Tuesday, May 30, 2006, TIMES NEWS NETWORK

The film, to be directed by Jagmohan Mundhra, will go on floor in September.

After a great deal of deliberation, Italian actress Monica Belluci has finally consented to play Sonia Gandhi in a bio-pic on the latter’s life that Jagmohan Mundhra will direct.

The deal was finalised after the director met Belluci last week. Work is now expected to start by September.

Confirming this from London, producer Sunanda Murli Manohar said, "We were waiting for Monica to hear the script. Her confirmation finally puts a seal on the deal. She's excited about the prospect of playing Sonia Gandhi. The script by Carl Austen has gone through a number of re-drafts and now we're ready to roll."

After Provoked, Mundhra is excited about doing this film. He was so impressed with Monica's performance as a war widow in Mellina, that he was keen on casting her for this role.

"There were rumours that I was thinking of casting Aishwarya Rai or Preity. Preity was a possibility but after I met her at Cannes, she admitted she was wrong for the role. Preity said, 'Just because Sonia Gandhi and I have dimples it doesn't mean I'm qualified to play her.'

Monica was perfect because she physically resembles Sonia." But how will she cope with the Hindi language? "Sonia Gandhi only speaks Hindi in public. My film will be in English and Monica will speak English most of the time," he says.

Ahmed Patel, political secretary to Sonia Gandhi says, "We are not aware of the film. But as far as cooperating with its production is concerned, we will not do it as it is not an official bio-pic."

The rest of the cast is yet to be finalised, especially that of Rajiv Gandhi. "I've heard of a Parsi-British actor called Zubin Warla who has done a lot of theatre. I believe he resembles Rajiv. But I'm open to casting a Bollywood actor too," says Mundhra.

Read more at : Monica agrees to play Sonia- The Times of India