Who got Bipasha Basu and Abhay Deol their Hollywood role?

In an industry obsessed with Hollwood, the latest to join the bandwagon are actors Bipasha Basu and Abhay Deol who are all set to play plum roles in Singularity. Basu is paired with Hollywood actor Josh Hartnett  and the flick will be directed by Ronald Joffe.

But a little birdie tells us the story of how Basu managed to get the role. Apparently she didn’t hire an agent nor did she travel to LA to network with people. Basu recently unfolded the mystery on her Twitter page where she posted a picture of hers with Heeraz Marfatia (the creative director on the project) and tweeted ‘Heeraz! Talented writer, director! He is responsible for me doing Singularity!’

Deol who has bagged a prominent role in the film too apparently credits Heeraz for his role.

Deol says, “I’ve known Heeraz for at least 6 years now. We have discussed many scripts over the years, some that he wrote, and others that he had developed from his writers company. Shekhar Kapur (film-maker) swears by him as Heeraz was his associate director for many years. Heeraz also has worked with Ronald Joffe even before Roland collaborated with him on Singularity.

In-fact, he played a key role in getting me involved in the film. His very first short film Birju was nominated for an Oscar, at a time when he was only just beginning his journey into the medium. He has all the qualities it takes to be a great director."

When contacted, Heeraz said, “When I was contacted by Ronald to work on this project and also handle the casting of the Indian characters, I checked on a lot of  faces but Bipasha perfectly suited the bill. She looks like the warrior girl we were looking for. Ditto for Deol — I loved his acting and when I showed his films to Ronald, he agreed on the same and the rest, as they say, is history.” Now it will be interesting to see the response the film gets at the box office.