Along with Luv Ranjan’s untitled film co-starring Ajay Devgn and Ranbir Kapoor which she has reportedly just accepted, Deepika Padukone is also believed to have said yes to Meghna Gulzar’s next on acid attack survivor Lakshmi Agarwal.
Lakshmi, who is now 29, survived a horrific acid attack in New Delhi in 2005 when she was just 15. She was attacked by a man whose advances and proposal she had rejected. She survived nine major surgeries and went on to become the hope for all acid victims in the world.
Meghna had announced she wanted to make a film on Lakshmi’s story of courage in the face of extreme adversity and her endeavor to rehabilitate other survivors and encourage them to come out in society and embrace their scars. At that time, Meghna was busy shooting Raazi in Kashmir. Now it is understood that a script is being written and Meghna and Deepika are in talks.
Happily, Lakshmi’s real story has romance in it as well. While doing a campaign for the NGO Stop Acid Attacks, she met and fell in love with journalist and social activist Alok Dixit. They decided to spend their lives together and now have a baby named Pihu who is four. Together, Lakshmi and Alok work to help and support acid attack victims from across the country.
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[caption id="attachment_135070" align="aligncenter" width="670"] Lakshmi with her husband Alok Dixit and daughter Pihu[/caption]
Now that she has reportedly got her “Lakshmi”, Bollywood is waiting to see when Meghna takes up this biopic on the acid attack survivor. After tasting success with Raazi, the director is believed to have agreed to direct Ronnie Screvwala’s film on the illustrious life of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw.
She had said at the time that the Manekshaw subject requires serious research. Just about then, Meghna also announced that she wanted to make the film on Lakshmi whom she had met in 2016. And it was rumoured that she had plans to take up the hijack of IA flight 814 in 1999 as a film subject. But Lakshmi appears to have won and Deepika is reported to be playing the title role.