Ranu Mondal biopic: Director says stars he approached for the role 'thought it was insulting' to play her

Ranu Mondal's story is inspirational. The lady became an overnight sensation after a video of her singing went viral. She had been a person begging in stations and trains to make ends meet. In fact, she had also opened up about how her condition had not been so grim from the very start. Needless to say that her life was nothing short of filmy and many wanted to make a film on her. Now, director Hrishikesh Mondal, who is making the biopic on Ranu Mondal has opened up about it.

Talking to Indian Express, Hrishikesh Mondal revealed that it had become a challenge for him to find the lead star who would play Ranu Mondal in her biopic. He said, “I had Sudiptaa Chakraborty (a National award-winning actor) in mind. Then we decided to shoot the film in Hindi. Sudiptaa was keen but following some problem with dates, she backed out of the project. We had a number of actors in mind. However, some thought it was insulting to play Ranu Mondal. Finally, Eshika Dey agreed to play the part.”

Eshika Dey will now play the singer. Talking about it, she said, “The only reason I am thrilled to play the role is the numerous shades of the character. It’s like life. We are not totally good or totally bad. We all are good or bad depending on our circumstances. We all have our ups and downs. Ranu’s character is like that. She has challenged me to perform.”

Eshika had earlier been seen in films like Laal Kaptan and Sacred Games. She is going through psychological counseling for the character.