Aamir’s director Rajkumar Gupta’s next titled No One Killed Jessica

Now it can be told. The talented director of Aamir, Rajkumar Gupta’s next film entitled No One Killed Jessica is actually based on the sensational Jessica Lal case. The model was gunned down in a restaurant on April 29, 1999. The director whose edgy hard-hitting drama Aamir swept the nation in 2008 intends to give the same gritty treatment to the Jessica Lal case which rocked the nation. Reluctant to shed light on the project, Gupta says, “I did approach Kareena Kapoor initially to play one of the two protagonists. But nothing more can be said about the casting right now. All I can say at this moment is that the film and its script which I’ve just completed is inspired by a headline that I saw in The Times Of India in 2006 which said, ‘No One Killed Jessica'(when all the accused in the sensational case were acquitted). It immediately set me thinking. Over the years, as the case dragged on, that headline acquired immense ironical overtones.” No One Killed Jessica will star two leading female performers in the age group of 27 and 30. A gritty bio-pic on Jessica Lal’s murder is not the only surprise the Aamir director drops on us this week.
 
He has also written the script for Barah Aana. Though Gupta is all for the way first-timer Raja Menon has directed his script, he admits he would film the script different. “I’d have made Barah Aana edgier, grittier and fast- paced. That’s the treatment I had envisaged for the screenplay. Also it isn’t clear in the film why Naseeruddin Shah’s character doesn’t speak. He just looks angry. The fact is the character has nothing more to say to the world. This aspect doesn’t come across in the film.” Also much as Gupta likes young Arjun Mathur as an actor, he thinks Mathur is a miscast as a Bihari waiter in Barah Aana. “I’d have cast someone like Deepak Dobriyal. But that’s neither here nor there. Barah Aana is fine the way it is.” Would Gupta write more scripts for other directors? “I don’t know. Barah Aana was a commitment before I directed Aamir. Right now my concentration is on casting for No One Killed Jessica. I just hope I don’t end up casting whoever is available. I need two very strong young actresses.” The actresses will play Jessica and her sister who fought for justice on Jessica’s behalf.