Jewel in Aparna Sen's crown

Perfectionist and a firm believer of taking-things-slow-and-steady, Aparna Sen, who's currently busy churning out 'a modern fairy tale' out of Kunal Basu's short story, isn't thinking of any other film, till The Japanese Wife is in progress.

And contrary to latest reports, as of now, Gulel is nowhere on the horizon. With the city already abuzz with strong rumours that Gulel is waiting in the to-be-made queue with AB Jr in the lead, the director comes clean.

Says Sen, who's currently in Santiniketan, working on The Japanese Wife, "Abhishek has heard the script and has liked the story a lot and wants to do the film. But his dates are a problem. Everything has to fall into place first."

Sen's unit, however, hasn't heard anything about Gulel being made. The production manager, Pritam Chowdhury, who has been on board with Sen when she made Yuganta, Paromitar Ekdin, Mr and Mrs Iyer, 15 Park Avenue, says the director hasn't yet dropped any hint on the subject.

Explaining how the team operates, Chowdhury says, "Once the story is selected, the script is prepared. Next, the unit that includes the cinematographer, editor, workshop director, music director, assistant directors, costume director, art director, prop incharge, production manager meet. There's a lot of transparency in the team. We know what is happening."

Ask him whether they've had any meetings on Gulel and Chowdhury is quick to quip, "No, no, nothing of that sort. The team is very busy with the postproduction work of The Japanese Wife."

Having said this, Chowdhury also lifts the lid off The Jewellery Box that Sen is all set to make after this film. "The film based on Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay's story is the director's dream project. Though the cast has not been finalized, Govinda has shown a lot of interest in the film."

So, what about Gulel's fate? "All I know is that it's a story by Aparna Sen. Abhishek Bachchan was approached for its celluloid version. It might happen in future but as of now, nothing has been finalised," says the production manager.

And those who are still assuming that Gulel is just awaiting an official confirmation, think again. The close associates of Sen can't even hide their surprise at the mention of the flick's name. "What? Gulel? I'm not too sure. I don't think it's happening now," says a source close to Sen.

Seems it isn't yet Kolkata calling for AB Jr. He can live life Ash se till something Sen-sational happens!

Aparna wants Abhishek for her film

THE RESOURCEFUL Aparna Sen, who's in the process of completing her latest Bengali film - The Japanese Wife with Rahul Bose in the lead, is ready to hit the road with her first Hindi film Gulel, for which she has Abhishek Bachchan in mind.

Says Aparna, "For Gulel I really want Abhishek and I know he wants to do the role. He has said yes. In fact, earlier on he had even allotted dates when Ismail Merchant's nephew Naeem wanted to make it. Abhishek had told Naeem that if Aparna Sen is doing Gulel, he'd do it. Then Ismail died and the project fell apart. But I'm ready to make Gulel with Abhishek as soon as he gives the dates."

Abhishek says he has an affinity to Bengal and Bengalis. "At the moment, there're lots of films under consideration. I'm on the verge of completing Laga Chunri Mein Daag. That was great fun. I've known the director, Pradeep Sarkar, from before. We've done a couple of ads. It's a very sweet unit. They had already shot for some weeks before I joined them. But I immediately felt at home. And yes, there were lots of Bengalis including my mom, the director and Rani who's a good friend, on the sets. I do love working with Bengalis. I've worked in two Bengali films with Ritu da (Rituparno Ghosh) in Antar Mahal and in a film called Desh directed by Raja Sen where I played my own mom's son. It would be delightful to work with Aparna Sen."