Actor Deepika Padukone has announced that Amitabh Bachchan will step in to play the role that was supposed to be played by the late Rishi Kapoor in The Intern. Rishi died last year after a two-year battle with cancer.
Deepika made the announcement on Monday. Sharing a poster for the film, a remake of the Hollywood hit by the same name, she wrote, “What an absolute honour to be collaborating with one of my most special co-star again!💛 Welcoming @amitabhbachchan to the Indian adaptation of #TheIntern.”
Deepika and Amitabh previously worked together in Shoojit Sircar’s Piku, which won them both plaudits. Amitabh and Rishi, meanwhile, last worked together in 102 Not Out.
Piku was released in the same year as the original The Intern, which was directed by Nancy Meyers and starred Anne Hathaway and Robert De Niro in the lead roles. The film made almost $200 million worldwide.
It told the story of a widower who re-enters the workforce to get his life back on track. He finds a job as an intern at a company headed by a career-oriented woman battling her own personal challenges.
The remake will be helmed by Badhaai Ho‘s Amit Ravindernath Sharma. “The Intern is an intimate, relationship-driven film, set in and around the workplace; a story that I believe is very relevant to the present-day social and cultural environment. I have been looking for a light, breezy comedy-drama and this story fits in seamlessly. I cannot wait to begin this journey,” Deepika had said in a statement last year.
Paresh Rawal, meanwhile, will complete Rishi‘s unfinished portions in the upcoming film Sharmaji Namkeen.