Heroine Movie. Review on Heroine Movie

Heroine Movie review!

Heroine is an upcoming Indian film co - written and directed by Madhur Bhandarkar. The film revolves around the life of a once successful film actress Mahi Khanna, whose career is on the decline. Though speculated to be based on the lives of yester year divas like Madhubala and Marilyn Monroe, Bhandarkar has denied the reports saying that the movie is a “contemporary film which reveals the underbelly of the movie industry and its well-kept secrets.” Bhandarkar said that he considers the movie his magnum opus. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was cast to play the lead role of Mahi Khanna. The shooting of the film is currently postponed due to Rai's pregnancy. Though news about Kareena Kapoor replacing Aishwarya Rai is going around, UTV has categorically denied and clarified that no casting has been finalised for Heroine.

Production(Development):

After the completion of his movie Jail, Bhandarkar was toying with the idea of making a movie portraying the lives of movie actresses. He had even bought the rights for using the title Heroine for his movie from Guddu Dhanoa, producer of movies like Deewana and Big Brother.[14] Though he announced in 2010 that he is working with UTV Motion Pictures to make Heroine, he decided to make Dil Toh Bachcha Hai Ji before starting with Heroine. Bhandarkar had prepared a three-hour documentary on Hollywood greats like Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Eva Gardner and Vivien Leigh as a reference point to make his protagonist more rounded, complete and contemporary and had put together an acting workshop for his lead actor to get into the skin of the role. Bhandarkar later told in an interview that he has been subconsciously preparing for the movie ever since he joined the industry.

Casting:

Bhandarker had approached Kareena Kapoor for his movie. Bhandarkar stated that Kapoor had been his first choice for his previous movies Page 3 and Fashion. Various media speculations were made on the reason as to why Kareena refused to be part of the movie. Some reports suggested that due to lack of dates she had refused the movie. Another section reported that she was unhappy with the script which demanded her to share intimate screen space with five different men. A majority of the media speculated that the reason why Kareena did not accept the offer was because the story had uncanny resemblance to her personal life. The movie shows that the lead protagonist gets into a relationship with a married actor and a portion of the movie shows the actress’s relationship with the children of the actor from his first marriage. Though the director consistently persuaded Kareena to be a part of the movie, it was finally decided that the movie will not have Kareena Kapoor in the leading role.

Bhandarkar later declaraed officially that the film was shelved as Kareena Kapoor had decided not to do the movie. It was later being rumored that Katrina Kaif was approached for the movie which was denied outright by the actress. The co-producers of the film, UTV Motion Pictures, then approached Aishwarya to be a part of the film. The news got more attention when Siddharth Roy Kapoor, CEO of UTV Motion Pictures, started approaching Aishwarya for various script hearings. Finally, after many discussions between the producers, Bhandarkar and Aishwarya, it was announced both by the director and the actor separately that they are going to work on Heroine. Arjun Rampal was the first actor to be signed opposite Aishwarya in Heroine. Sources confirmed the news saying that Bhandarkar was going to present Rampal in a never-before-seen manner. A second lead actor is also being searched who will be apparently playing the central character's young love interest. Another character of a yester-year actress based on the likes of famous actress Nadira was also being talked about.

Promotion & Publicity:

The first look of the movie was released as part of the 64th Cannes Film Festival. A promotional poster was released during a press conference in which Ronnie Screwvala of UTV Motion Pictures, Madhur Bhandarkar, and Kareena Kapoor officially announced the movie. The director said, "The movie is a glamorous yet bold story of the internal journey of a superstar. I am certain it will appeal to audiences across the globe and Kareena was a perfect choice for the role. In fact, no one could’ve essayed it better." Screwvala stated “With Heroine, we plan to take things to the next level. The actress too admitted that she was "looking forward to this new journey in the movie.” The actress was quick to deny any reference to her personal life being portrayed in the movie and said that the entire idea was a result of Bhandarkar's conceptualization. The Official Press Release distributed as a part of the announcement stated that "The film is based on the life and times of a superstar heroine, Mahi from the dream factory we call'Bollywood'. The film is a daring, shocking, glamorous, scandalous behind-the-scenes account of the reality behind the world of glitz and glamour that our film stars inhabit. For a country obsessed with films and film stars, Heroine will take audiences on a voyeuristic journey to see what really goes on in the lives of India's sweethearts."

Soundtrack:

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.