Queen’s remake hits hurdles

Taapsee opts out of the ambitious all-South remake of the Bollywood film, leaving the project in limbo; the makers now hunt for a fresh face
Having won a clutch of Filmfare awards recently, the Bollywood flick Queen is the flavour of the season. Incidentally, the South remake of the Kangna Ranaut-starrer has hit a roadblock as the producer has not been able to finalise the lead star cast for the Telugu and Tamil versions. Taapsee Pannu was roped in to reprise the role played by Kangna and the flick was to hit floor last month. Mirror has learnt that the plans of the producer have gone awry because of various reasons.

First, the producer, veteran Tamil actor Thyagarajan, who acquired the South remake rights of Queen, couldn't identify a suitable director for the Tamil and Telugu versions. There were speculations that he had approached Malayalam film-maker Anjali Menon (Bangalore Days fame) to direct the movie. However, she was reportedly not interested in taking up a Hindi remake project. Later, Thyagarajan started looking for a lesser known director in Tamil to take up the assignment. But there is no confirmation about the director, who will helm the South version.
“Somehow, things did not fall into the place at the right time. The project got delayed inordinately. As per the original plan, the shooting for the Telugu-Tamil versions should have commenced last year itself. It was pushed to January. But nothing is in place now. They have to start from the scratch again," a trade source said.

Post-baby, Taapsee to focus on Bollywood
Meanwhile, Taapsee preferred to opt out of the project because of the delay. Besides, her Hindi film career has taken off very well with her latest movie Baby turning out to be a hit.
"The actress’s career in Bollywood is definitely on the upswing. Her debut Hindi movie Chashme Baddoor (2013) did not perform well at the box office. But the actress managed to grab attention of Hindi film-makers. Baby has done wonders for her career. She intends to concentrate on her Hindi film career,” said one of Taapsee’s casting agents. It's said that Thyagarajan is keen on finding another popular face in the South for the lead role. While he intends to produce the Telugu and Tamil version on his own, he is searching for partners for the Malayalam & Kannada versions.