Aamir, Saif to play lunatics!

Mumbai: Barely a few hours before flying off to Cannes for the screening of his short film on global warming, director Pan Nalin revealed that he is on the verge of a casting coup. For the screen adaptation of legendary Pakistani playwright Saadat Hasan Manto's short story Toba Tek Singh, Pan will be casting Oscar winners Kate Winslet or Rachel Weisz as Dr Sophie, the female lead.

"Either Kate or Rachel will be doing my film. I will be meeting both of them after my Cannes trip to finalise the casting. Either of them will be able to do justice to this marvelous story," says Pan.

The hero of the film will be either Aamir Khan or Saif Ali Khan who will play the role of a lunatic in a mental asylum. "I haven't finished casting for the male lead, but Aamir and Saif fit the role best. I would reiterate that there's no question of a first or second choice between them. It depends on their availability when the film goes on the floors this August." Though Pan is not telling, sources say that Irrfan Khan might end up in the film too. According to sources close to Aamir, Pan has already narrated the script to him and Aamir has taken a keen interest. But he hasn't signed on the dotted line yet.
Talking about the script, Pan reveals, "I travelled to Pakistan to acquire the rights of the short story that describes a comic situation inside an Indian mental asylum in 1947 when India and Pakistan were being created. Dr Sophie comes to the mental asylum to decide how they will be dividing the lunatics lodged there betweenIndia and Pakistan. The comedy thereafter suddenly takes a tragic turn."