Asin and Bipasha Basu certainly didn’t think Ashutosh Gowariker was making a piece of history. Both the girls had the same reason for refusing Ashu’s latest film — Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey.

The actresses felt that the role wasn’t anything spectacular. However, Deepika Padukone jumped at the offer. And, she even adds that the experience of working with the Jodhaa Akbar filmmaker on his next is a very exhilarating one.

Ashutosh, of course, is not deterred by small hiccups that have come in the way of one of his most ambitious projects.

His Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey is being shot on a very lavish scale on the virgin locales of Sawantwadi, two hours from Goa at a century-old spectacular palace. Art director Nitin Desai has changed the existing edifice beyond recognition, and it actually seems like a heritage structure from the 1930s.

The film, based on Manini Chatterjee’s Do and Die: The Chittagong Uprising, is an engrossing account of the years between 1930-34, when a revolutionary group headed by Surya Sen (Abhishek Bachchan) and 64 others led an armed uprising for Indian Independence.“It was around the time when Mahatma Gandhi asked everyone to steer clear of violence and yet, there was this one group who planned their coup to rattle the British. They were willing to give their lives for a cause, for their country,’’ says Ashu. The filmmaker is so inspired by the book that he has poured his every sensibility into turning the script to a quick-paced narrative, which touches on a chapter in history that needs to be told. “And it is a very contemporary take, something today’s evolved audience can relate to,” he says.

Ideally, Ashu’s film should have been shot in Bangladesh, but knowing how difficult that may be for a mammoth unit like his, the filmmaker did a recce, and found that the flora and fauna of Sawant-wadi could match what he had in mind for KHJJS.

As for the casting, Ashutosh feels every film has its own destiny. “Hrithik Roshan was meant to do Swades. Shah Rukh Khan did it... and Swades is still one of the most-talked about films in SRK’s career. Abhishek and Deepika are best suited for this project. What more could I ask for? Ultimately things work out for the best.”

- Timesofindia.com