'Sanam Teri Kasam' makers talk casting Mawra Hocane for her Bollywood debut

'It was great seeing a Muslim girl like Mawra playing the character of a Brahmin girl,' director Radhika Rao said

Sanam Teri Kasam, featuring Harshvardhan Rane and none other than Pakistani starlet Mawra Hocane, released five years ago, on February 5 to be precise. On the occasion, its writer-director duo — Vinay Sapru and Radhika Rao — recalled how the film had no Bollywood superstar. They also shared the fascinating story of how they ended up casting Hocane as a Telugu Brahmin in the film.

Sanam Teri Kasam was a romantic tragedy based on Erich Segal’s 1970 bestseller novel Love Story, reported IANS. “While writing this film, we drew every moment, character and dialogue from our personal lives. The girl Saru (played by Hocane) is a Telugu Brahmin and she lives like (co-director) Radhika (Rao)’s family. The boy belongs to something like my background,” said Sapru. “Also there was an inspiration from mythology — Shiv Puran. Typically, like Indian folktale, if a daughter’s wedding is not blessed by the father, it is not considered a successful wedding.”

Rao added, “While casting, we had options to cast existing stars but we thought that the feel of a tragic tale of love can only come from people who are absolutely new and fresh. It was really great seeing a Muslim girl like Mawra Hocane playing the character of a Brahmin girl. She had no idea about the culture of the character and yet, she got into the skin of it.”
Sanam Teri Kasam had marked Hocane’s first and only project in Bollywood.

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