Richa and Kalki to play Jiah Aur Jiah

By Subhash K. Jha -

July 1, 2013 - 11:23 AM IST

Though Richa Chhada is a Punjabi, and Kalki Koechlin a South Indian, for a girl-bonding film that they will be shooting in September, the two spunky actresses are swapping cultural identities.

Richa plays a Tamilian named Jiah Venkataraman, and Kalki, who in real life is from Pondicherry, will play a Punjaban named Jiah Garewal.

And did we tell you? The film is called Jiah Aur Jiah. Bizarre, that this announcement comes just days after the actress Jiah Khan's tragic death

A case of tapping the collective tear ducts of an emotional nation? Filmmaker Mudassar Aziz, who co-produces the film along with Sunil Bohra, vehemently denies his double-heroines' Jiah connection with the real life Jiah. "My film and its concept of two girls named Jiah from different cultural background coming together in unexpected ways for a road-travel movie, materialized long before the tragic death of Jiah Khan."

Mudassar admits Jiah Khan had approached him for a role. "Regrettably, she didn't fit the bill. I needed two actresses with very specific cultural backgrounds. It had to be Richa and Kalki. And I was sure I wanted them to swap their cultural identities. I wanted Richa to play the Tamilian and Kalki in the Punjaban. They are such deviously accomplished actresses. This is their chance to take another unexpected route."

Interestingly, Richa would be spending time in Kalki's home space in Pondicherry and Kalki would be visiting Richa's environment in Delhi, so that both actresses can get a feel of each other's culture before plunging into their parts.

The film to be directed by choreographer Howard Rosemeyer will be shot on Sweden. Says Mudassar, "Why a girl-bonding film shot in Sweden? You may well ask. Well, my counter-question is, why not? Why do we have to have only films about guys bonding? Don't girls have fun when they get together?"