When Kareena Kapoor Khan played Christiane Amanpour

Prakash Jha’s Satyagrah,released  ten years ago on August 30,   in which  Amitabh Bachchan played  a character based  on Anna Hazare, was embroiled in  a whirlpool  of controversies  before and after release.

Kareena Kapoor Khan  played a seasoned political journalist with a strong ideological bent to her personality. Her character was  modelled on CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, who is known for her humane and compassionate reportage on the worst kind of atrocities against humankind .

 Recalling the  film and  Kareena’s character Prakash  Jha ventures, “Whenever we see television journalists in Hindi films, they’re invariably modelled on Barkha Dutt. I  not only asked Kareena to model her character on Christiane Amanpour but I also made  her  watch tapes of Amanpour’s news coverage and her show on CNN. I wanted Kareena to understand how much heart Amanpour brings to her news reportage.”

In the film, Kareena  also followed Amanpour’s dress code: chic and fashionable yet formal and not too severe.  Prakash didn’t want her to follow the routine dress code of salwar kameez and sarees. The most stylishly cut executive suits modelled on Amanpour’s dress style were designed for Kareena.

Says  Prakash, , “From the time I wrote the journalist’s character in Satyagrah, I had Christiane Amanpour in mind. I wrote Kareena’s character thinking only of Amanpour. I love the deep connectivity she establishes with the viewers with her compassionate reportage and analysis.”