IANS

New Delhi, Aug 1: Nagesh Kukunoor plans to make a biopic on legendary singer-actor-director Kishore Kumar and is considering Shreyas Talpade for the lead role. The young actor says it would be be an "honour" to step into the singer's shoes for the movie.

"Nagesh had asked me a year-and-a-half back about doing Kishore-da's part and I had immediately said yes, but nothing is official as of now... personally speaking I'm really looking forward to it," Shreyas told IANS over telephone from Mumbai.

"I haven't been able to speak with Nagesh about it yet, but I'd love to portray Kishore-da without any doubt... I'm a big fan of his and as an actor it'll be a huge honour for me as well as a challenge to enact him in a film," he added.

Apparently Kukunoor, who had launched the actor in Bollywood with his critically-acclaimed 2005 movie "Iqbal", wants to cast him in the biopic for two reasons - first, a Kishore Kumar bio-pic cannot be attempted with a star who has a strong image and, secondly, Shreyas is a huge Kishore Kumar fan himself.

If Kukunoor signs Shreyas for the film, it will be his fifth project with the director after "Aashayein", "Bombay to Bangkok" (2008), "Dor" (2006) and "Iqbal" (2005).

Asked if he would be crooning the hitmaker's numbers if roped in, Shreyas said: "You wouldn't like to mess around with Kishore-da's voice. I keep humming his songs, but you can't really call me a singer. His voice has been god's gift and I'll try (to sing in his voice), but if I cannot then we'll pick a singer who can do justice to his songs.

"But as far as the performance part is concerned, it is totally under my control and I'll make sure that I pull that perfectly... I wont leave any room for any finger to find anything missing," he added.

Kukunoor's narrative in the film would be propelled forward on the strength of Kishore Kumar's songs and he is also in the process of acquiring the rights to the original numbers.

The filmmaker has spent hours with Kishore Kumar's son Amit Kumar and wife Leena Chandravarkar - they gave Kukunoor enough anecdotes to make the biopic authentic.

Interestingly, two more directors - Sudhir Mishra and Shoojit Sircar - are also set to wield the megaphone on the life and songs of the multi-faceted Kishore Kumar.

While Mishra is looking forward to casting Kishore Kumar's younger son Sumit provided he can act, Sircar's film, which is being penned by Rensil D'Silva, is currently on hold.