Srijit Mukherji quashes `Hemlock Society` remake-Alia Bhatt claims

New Delhi, Feb 22 (ANI): National award winning director Srijit Mukherji has quashed the claims that his movie ‘Hemlock Society’s Hindi remake is in the pipeline as well as has refuted reports about Alia Bhatt playing the female lead in it, saying that he was quoted out of context.

Earlier, it was reported that the 22-year-old actress was roped in for the part of Meghna, originally played by Koel Mallick in the critically acclaimed movie.

Clearing the air, the director said in a Twitter interaction with International Business Times India that he just had a casual conversation with a journalist in a different context, regarding the cast of his upcoming project ‘Begum Jaan.’

He wrote, “It was a casual, hypothetical conversation that too in a different context, namely casting for Begum Jaan. What I said was there is no character in Begum Jaan apt for her (Alia), instead I think she would be an ideal Meghna in HS!”

The ‘Rajkahini’ director also said that neither he has approached the ‘Highway’ star for any such film and has no plans to do that as of now, nor there are any plans to make Hindi remake of ‘Hemlock Society.’

Earlier, Mukherji was quoted as saying, “Yes, I have spoken to Mahesh Bhatt saab about a Hindi version of ‘Hemlock Society.’ I feel Alia would be ideal for the role that Koel Mallick did in the original.”

Shot in Bengali and touted as a dark-comedy, ‘ Hemlock Society’ revolved around a girl who learns various techniques of committing suicide, from an expert. Interestingly, even though it was based on a serious topic the film featured some humour as well. (ANI)