MUMBAI: We all know that Rani Mukherjee said no to Vishal Bhardwaj’s Daayan. And the real for it is Anurag Kashyap. The actress was pursued relentlessly until she agreed to the part in Sachin Kundalkar’s film, which Kashyap is producing.

While Rani chose not to comment, her spokesperson told Businessofcinema.com, “Due to Reema Kagti’s project and this other film, she has no dates at all to allocate to Vishal Bhardwaj. Contrary to rumours neither the title Daayan nor her co-star Emraan Hashmi had anything to do with her inability to do the film.”

A source adds, “We haven’t had a significant North-South love story since K Balachander’s Ek Duuje Ke Liye. Rani has not done a true blue love story since Hum Tum in 2004. If you notice, all her films in recent times have been either based on social issues or have featured her in unconventional heroine-centric roles. Even her last film No One Killed Jessica was off-mainstream. Rani was dying to do a state-of-the-art love story. When director Sachin Kundalkar came up with the offer to do this film she immediately said yes.”

Kundalkar, whose earlier film Gandh in Marathi, generated tremendous curiously acclaim, informs, “Anurag and I are very close friends. You could say he’s the moderator on the project. I’ve written the film and will be directing it.”

Both Anurag Kashyap and Sachin Kundalkar were sure that they wanted Rani Mukherjee for the female protagonist’s part.