Heroine is an upcoming Indian film directed, co-written and co-produced by Madhur Bhandarkar. Revolving around the life of a once successful film actress, Mahi Arora, whose career is on the decline, the film features Kareena Kapoor as the protagonist along with actors Arjun Rampal, Randeep Hooda and Rakesh Bapat. Additionally, the project also stars Shahana Goswami, Divya Dutta, Helen, Shillpi Sharma, Mugdha Godse and Lillete Dubey in supporting roles. Heroine is scheduled to release on 21 September 2012.
Cast
Kareena Kapoor as Mahi Arora
Originally the first choice for her role, Kapoor was hesitant to take on the project when Bhandarkar approached her with the film's brief initial idea. She explained reservations about the criticism her character might evoke as well as the intimate sequences with several of her co-stars, and was subsequently replaced by Aishwarya Rai. Several days after production began, Rai left the film due to her pregnancy, and Bhandarkar re-approached Kapoor with the film. Once the director reinforced his faith in her, she agreed to do the film when she was handed the completed script. Prior to being cast in Heroine, Bhandarkar approached Kapoor with Page 3 (2005) and Corporate (2006), both of which she could not do due to prior commitments. Kapoor, who described her character as being "bipolar and schizophrenic", refrained from taking on any other projects as she found Heroine to be "very aggressive and tiring".
Arjun Rampal as ...
Bhandarkar, who was keen on casting a well-known actor to essay the lead male protagonist, approached Rampal in May 2011. His character is described as a superstar with "grey shades [who] add[s] twists and turns to the story". In an interview with Mid Day, Rampal explained that he did not want to model his character on a certain individual, but rather borrow various traits from different people.
Randeep Hooda as ...
Hooda was cast by the director to essay the role of a cricketer. Prior to the start of principal photography, actor Arunoday Singh was chosen to play the role, but was later dropped from the film due to unknown reasons. Media reports began speculating the name of several actors (such as Ranbir Kapoor, Imran Khan and Prateik Babbar) though Bhandarkar later confirmed that he had selected Hooda after seeing his performance in Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster (2011). As a way to make his character more believable, Hooda began taking tips and lessons from cricketer Virender Sehwag.
Rakesh Bapat as ...
Bapat was cast in November 2011 to play "one of [Kapoor's] lovers". The director announced that Bapat's character would be kept under wraps along with a few other characters such as that of Goswami's and Dutta's.
Shahana Goswami as ...
Goswami was selected to play an important character in the film.
Divya Dutta as ...
Along with Goswami, Dutta was also selected to play an important character in the film.
Mugdha Godse as ...
Godse was roped in to play the character of a rival heroine who is jealous of Mahi Arora's success.
Helen as ...
Helen was cast by the director to essay the role of a senior actress.
Shillpi Sharma as ...
Sharma, who described Bhandarkar as "a family friend" was approached by the director to play a glamorous role. In preparation for the role, Sharma was required to lose weight and sign a non-disclosure agreement.
Lillete Dubey as ...
Dubey was cast by the director to essay the role of Kapoor's mother.
Ranvir Shorey as ...
Described as the director's "lucky mascot", Shorey was roped in to make a cameo appearance.
Development
Following the completion of his film,
Jail (2009), Bhandarkar began toying with the idea of making a project on the film industry. Along with writer Niranjan Iyengar, the director began developing the story about the life of an actress and later approached UTV Motion Pictures with whom he had worked on several occasions. Bhandarkar, who was keen on using the title
Heroine for his film, donated
1 lakh (US$1,800) to Guddu Dhanoa's charity.He later explained that he had been subconsciously preparing for the movie ever since he joined the industry.
Pre-production work on the film was expected to commence during the summer of 2010 but was put on hold due to Kapoor being busy with other commitments. During this period, Bhandarkar announced that he would be making
another project while putting
Heroine on hold.Though speculated to be based on the lives of yesteryear divas like Madhubala and Marilyn Monroe, Bhandarkar denied the reports saying that the movie is a "contemporary film which reveals the underbelly of the movie industry and its well-kept secrets". In an attempt to prepare his protagonist for the film, the director prepared a three-hour documentary on Hollywood actresses Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Ava Gardner and Vivien Leigh. Designer Manish Malhotra was signed on to design the costumes.
Filming
Production for the film was marred by the kidnapping and brutal murder of Meenakshi Thapar by a co-star, Amit Jaiswal, who like Thapar, only had a minor role in the film. Thapar was strangled in her hotel room in Gorakhpur and her body dumped into a water tank and head decapitated and thrown out of the window of a moving bus.
Music
It was announced that music director duo Salim-Sulaiman, who had earlier worked with Madhur Bhandarkar in his critically acclaimed movie Fashion, will be composing the songs for Heroine.
During the shooting of the film, Bhandarkar revealed that there would be two big item numbers in the film, both to be picturized on the leading lady. One of them being called "Halkat Jawani". Sung by Sunidhi Chauhan is scheduled as a single track release on August 17, 2012.
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