Aishwarya Rai Bachchan to play courtesan-turned-actor Binodini Das in Pradeep Sarkar’s next.

Actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has reportedly said yes to her next film with Pradeep Sarkar. According to a Bombay Times report, Aishwarya will play 19th century courtesan and actor Binodini Das in a biopic.

Talking to the daily, Sarkar said, “Aishwarya was always on my mind for the biopic. I did reach out to her a few months ago. In the first narration itself, she liked the story and has said ‘yes’ to the project.” He said Aishwarya has not signed the project yet. “I seriously think that she will,” he said.

Binodini Das, or Noti Binodini, was a courtesan who began working as an actor at 12 years old until she turned 23. She also wrote her own biography, Amar Katha (The Story of My Life), which was published in 1913.

“It is quite a tough story to crack, as there is hardly any material to read up on her. I have a person who is helping me with the research from Kolkata,” Sarkar said about the film. “It’s about a woman who wanted to become a producer. Today we have actresses who have launched their production houses, but here we are talking about a different era altogether. This lady was the first person in Bengal, who had the idea of having her own theatre. Now, what all she had to do to achieve her goal makes an interesting story. She has faced a lot of ups and downs. The people who were close to her took her for a ride. Usne bohot saare dhokhe khaaye hai (She was cheated a lot in life). It’s a wonderful tale I hope things fall into place.”

Aishwarya’s last film was 2018’s Fanney Khan and she also has Mani Ratnam’s ambitious project, Ponniyin Selvan. The film is an adaptation of a popular Tamil novel of the same name and chronicles the rise of the Chola rulers.

Aishwarya is likely to play a queen in the film which also stars mutliple South Indian stars including Vikram, Jayam Ravi, Vikram Prabhu, Mohan Babu among others. Confirming the news, she was quoted in The Hindu as saying: “I will confirm that I am doing the film. I am on this journey with him, and it will be an honour to be a part of anything Mani chooses to do ever.”