By Subhash K. Jha, November 15, 2010 – 13:22 IST

Saif Ali Khan is all set to play his first biographical character in Siddharth Anand’s 2 States. The role of the Punjabi ‘boy’ Krish who will marry his Tamilian sweetheart Ananya but only with the consent of the two sets of parents is essentially the story of Bhagat’s own courtship and marriage in real life.

Saif is expected to spend time with Chetan Bhagat to understand his character and get into Krish’s mind. In real life too, Saif is all set to get into a cross-cultural marriage. 2 States is quite a learning curve for the Nawab.

Bhagat would like to exercise a more close vigil over the casting of the protagonists than he did in his novel’s other movie adaptations like Hello (One Night @ The Call Centre) and 3 Idiots (5 Point Someone). In both these cases Bhagat had no say. And he liked it that way.

But in 2 States, the personal element is extremely pronounced. For better or for worse Saif Ali Khan came to the storyboard from the outset as part of the project.

And Bhagat is okay with that. Says India’s best-selling author, “It is not important for Krish to be played by a Punjabi or Ananya to be played by a Tamilian. I’m aware Saif is not a Punjabi. To me that serves the story’s purpose even better. The whole idea of 2 States is to convey a pan-India appeal. The novel is about an inter-state union. What better way to show this than to have a non-Punjabi actor playing my Punjabi More >