Not Priyanka Chopra but this former beauty queen may play Shahnaz Hussain in biopic

Mumbai: Priyanka Chopra had wowed moviegoers by essaying the role of champion boxer Mary Kom in a biopic directed by Omung Kumar. She had also proved her versatility by essaying the role of Jhilmil, an autistic girl in Anurag Basu’s Barfi. And she was apparently being considered for Shahnaz Hussain biopic. But latest buzz suggests that the actress has declined the offer owing to date issues.

And now that Priyanka is out of the picture, Aishwarya Rai has been approached for the part. Ash had recently played Dalbir Kaur (inspired by a real life character) in Omung Kumar’s Sarbjit. So it wouldn’t be difficult for the former Miss World to step into the shoes of the beauty baroness for the biopic.

According to a report in DNA, Puja Bedi, daughter of producer Bobby Bedi will be producing and directing the film in question.

Besides Puja, Kamlesh Pandey, the writer of the film feels that Ash will fit the bill.

“Aishwarya was always our first choice,” Pandey said.

“But we want the tehzeeb and adab of the character to reflect in the actor’s DNA. The vocabulary certainly could not be that of the Facebook and Twitter generation. Aishwarya is perfect, keeping in mind all these prerequisites,” he added.

Aishwarya Rai, who is married to Abhishek Bachchan made a comeback with Sanjay Gupta’s Jazbaa in 2015 after a hiatus of five years. She took a break to enjoy motherhood after the birth of her daughter Aaradhya. Post Jazbaa, Aishwarya essayed Dalbir Kaur in Sarbjit followed by a glamorous role in Karan Johar’s Ae Dil Hai Mushkil in 2016.

She is now busy with her next titled Fanney Khan, a Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra film co-starring Rajkummar Rao and Anil Kapoor.