Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra finds his ‘Sahiba’ in Saiyami Kher

Mumbai: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra has finally found his 'Sahiba' for his next directorial ‘Mirza Sahiba’, which will go on floors in a month’s time. Saiyami Kher has been finalized opposite Harshwardhan Kapoor in the musical, based on folklore set in Rajasthan.

Rakeysh had short listed 2 girls for the leading role. Generally, after finalizing the cast, directors conduct an intensive workshop to train them for the actual shoot. The director however found both the girls so talented that he decided to conduct a 3-month workshop with them before he made his final call.

A team member revealed, “The three month workshop consisted of understanding the character, dialogue delivery, emoting different scenes and a look test. As the workshop progressed, it became all the more difficult for Rakeysh to take a call as both of them, extremely hardworking and fully committed to the workshop.”

The call for the leading lady was taken when Rakeysh came back from his extensive recce in Jodhpur. Saiyami Kher, who is the grand-daughter of Usha Kiran, was eventually picked up as the leading lady.

The other close contender was Ayesha Kapoor who made a brilliant debut in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s 'Black'.

The script has been written by Gulzar and will be shot extensively in areas around Rajashthan and Jodhpur.