Filmmaker Ketan Mehta, who will soon start shooting his period film on Rani Lakshmi Bai, has already begun pre-production work on the project. Along with his wife, Deepa Mehta, Ketan has flown to London for preliminary casting of the film.
Considering that it is a period film set in the British era in India, Ketan, apparently, wants to get the casting right for all the British characters in the film.
A source close to the film tells us, “For Ketan, it is important that he gets the right faces for all the roles in the film, whether it is big or small. And for Rani Lakshmi Bai, he needs to cast a lot of Englishmen in various roles. Ketan wants to reconstruct the effect that foreign actors had in various roles in his previous film Mangal Pandey.”
Ketan and Deepa flew to London earlier this month and they have been holding auditions there. They will study the audition footage and take a call on the final casting.
A source revealed, “Those finalised for the roles will be flown to India before the start of the schedule. Ketan also plans to hold a workshop for his actors to help them improvise on the characters.”
With Kangana Ranaut in the lead, the film will recount the legend of Rani Lakshmi Bai and how she single-handedly took on the British in the 18 century. The film will go on the floors in October this year.
