Still born

Sushmita’s directorial debut shelved

Sushmita SenSushmita Sen’s much hyped directorial debut Jhansi ki Rani, where she was to play the warrior queen has just been shelved. The reason citied for this is that a television serial on the same subject will be on air shortly. A source from the industry says, “Everything was on track and Sush had finalised not just the script, but locations, arrangement to fly in horses from abroad and even budgeting. A special office was set up and people were hired to look into the pre-production of the film. But unfortunately for Sush, she spent way too much time just scouting for the male lead. So while she was losing out on time, a television channel picked up the idea and got working on it. The investors obviously weren’t too happy about this as the serial would be on air before the film’s release. They then backtracked and the project is now shelved. The hired staff has been asked to leave too.”Meanwhile, an official from the channel that’s due to make the serial on Rani Jhansi says, “Yes, the serial is being planned and will go on floors by March.”With no new investors in sight, Sushmita had no choice but to drop her grandiose plans.