Kareena gets over her reservations in the Heroine script

By Subhash K. Jha -

September 24, 2011 - 12:00 AM IST

Kareena gets over her reservations in the Heroine script

Now that UTV has sorted out all the practical problems pertaining to Kareena Kapoor's return to Heroine, Madhur Bhandarkar has taken full charge of the creative aspects of the project once again.

A source very close to the project tells us, Madhur has had two marathon sessions with Kareena over the layered and complex script. And the sessions have gone very very smoothly and to the advantage of both the parties (the director and the actress).

Kareena initially had some strong reservations about the intimate sequences and about some of the verbal content of the character's space. All that has been amicably resolved.

Says the source, "Over the two meetings Madhur and Kareena have sorted out all points of dispute in the script. Kareena expressed the same doubts about the content that she had when she left the film. Some scenes seem to replicate situations and people around her in real life. That disturbed Kareena. Madhur had to explain to her that the scenes were indispensable to the script. He reminded Kareena of how effective Tabu was doing the edgy hard-hitting scenes in Chandni Bar. That convinced Kareena. She is a big fan of Tabu and the film."

The intimate scenes made Kareena uncomfortable since Kareena has not done such scenes with anyone except Saif (in Kurbaan).

Madhur convinced Kareena of the imperativeness of the content. He insisted on preserving the scenes the way they are. Kareena has agreed to do exactly what's required.

Says the source, "Kareena and Madhur share a comfort level from the time he offered her Page 3 and Corporate. Kareena has been desirous of doing a film with Madhur for a long time. She has seen all his films. Once Madhur succeeded in convincing Kareena of how vital those hard-hitting scenes that she was apprehensive about are to the film's impact, Kareena decided to drop all her defences and go straight for the kill."

Apparently, in the two months before shooting Kareena would undergo intense preparation for the part. This includes getting the body language and speech of the character right.

Says the source, "It's the role of a woman some years older than Kareena. Both the director and Kareena feel she looks far younger than her real age. Kareena needs to fill out a bit. It's the role of a woman who has lived life queen-size. But it's not the role of fading actress, as people believe. Kareena has been asked to get into the skin of the part."

Having got his heroine all revved up, Madhur Bhandarkar was at the Gaiety cinema this Eid on a very special mission. He had gone to check out the mass reaction to Kareena in Bodyguard.

Says a source, "Madhur knows what Kareena is capable of as an actress. But he wanted to again feel the audiences' deep connect with her. Madhur is not making a small art-house film with Kareena. Heroine has to talk and walk the commercial language without resorting to crassness."

Says a source, "Heroine will look at the life of actress at her peak from the opposite end of the spectrum from The Dirty Picture. Cleavages and heaving bosoms are not the point in Heroine. The mind and heart of a woman who has seen the best of times in the glamour industry has to come through. The closest reference point in Hindi cinema is Shyam Benegal's Bhumika. Kareena is all geared up. She has lost the fear of exploring the dark regions of her character. Like she told Madhur, she will surrender to his vision."