Newcomer Alisha Khan to star in Mahesh Bhatt-written film

Debutante Alisha Khan has been signed on to star in the upcoming crime thriller film "Ab Raat Guzarne Wali Hai", written by filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt.

"Yes, my name has been confirmed for the film. I do believe that dreams come true," Alisha told IANS.

The film will be directed by Gurudev Bhalla, who earlier worked as an assistant director in movies like "Gumrah", "Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke", "Sir" and "Jurm". He had also directed the 2002 film "Shararat".

"It took me over 11 months to catch hold of Bhatt sahab and he is a very busy person. But when I met him, I told him that 'Sir I'm a big fan of your films'. He replied: 'Yes my girl, if you have talent we will take your audition and will offer you this role'.

"Finally, I got a call from Bhalla and I was asked to come for the audition. It was very tough and a challenging one. Later, I got a call saying that I have been finalised for the film. I met Bhatt sahab and hugged him and thanked him for the opportunity," said Alisha, who had earlier done a few modelling and ad assignments.

Bhatt shared that she will play "a very challenging role" in the film.

"I think she is currently in Ranchi to go through the mental institutions there to get some information regarding the instrumental disorder. Her character is based on that. She plays a girl who is in the performing arts and has emotional and mental disturbances which have devastating consequences on her life," Bhatt told IANS.

In August last year, Bhatt shared that he was shocked by the similarities between the Sheena Bora murder case and a story that he penned back in May for "Ab Raat Guzarne Wali Hai".

"I was shocked to see the similarity of life to the work of fiction. When we saw the real life drama erupt, we were shocked to see how close the drama that we had created out of pure imagination came to something that happened in real life. This is perhaps a case of life imitating cinema not cinema imitating life," he said.

However, Bhatt added that "Ab Raat Guzarne Wali Hai" will not be based on the case.

"There is a kind of dysfunctional relationship between certain characters which are among the family members and have very dark and gory kind of dimensions. I can't reveal more. It has a dark tone, but the film has nothing to do with the Sheena Bora murder case. It just has a frightening similarity," he said.

Though other cast members of the film are yet to be announced, Alisha said that "tentatively the shooting is going to start in June".