Fearless Franka

Director Vishal Bharadwaj has signed Run Lola Run actress Franka Potente for his upcoming film, Julia. The script of the film is based on the life of Mary Ann Evans aka Fearless Nadia, who ruled the Hindi film industry in the '30s. Fearless Nadia was also famously called Hunterwali.

Our source reveals, “Vishal met Franka in Berlin sometime in August. He had discussed the subject of his film, Julia with her and told her that he was keen to cast her in the lead role. Ajay Devgan is being considered for the film, too.”
Vishal finally got Franka flown down to Mumbai a few days ago. Our source says, “Franka has already done the screen test yesterday at Mehboob Studios.” Vishal wanted to see if Franka could carry well the costumes that Nadia wore in her films during those days.

Our source adds, “Vishal wanted to give Franka an idea about the kind of character she's about to play.”

Franka was screen-tested in four different costumes. “Nadia was known for her trademark hunter and mask besides loose shirts, baggy pants and knee-length boots.

Incidentally, Nadia was the first Bollywood actress to perform her own stunts and soon gained recognition for it. Anyway, Franka was given similar costumes. Vishal even made pose with a hunter,” our source says.

Vishal is very happy as he feels that the German actress is just right for the role. “Vishal is pretty impressed with the end result. He feels that Franka's face is quite similar to Nadia's,” our source says.

When contacted, Poonam Sahni, the executive producer of Julia, said, “We cannot comment on this. Please contact UTV because they are looking after the film.”

Siddharth Roy Kapur, CEO of UTV, when contacted said, “I don't want to comment on right now.”

Who is Franka?

Franka Potente was born in Dulmen, Germany. She made a notable debut in Nach Fumf im Urwald (1995). But her national breakthrough came in Lola Rennt (Run Lola Run).

She has also starred in films like Blow, The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy and many other German and English productions.

She has written and directed Der die Tollkirsche ausgrabt (German) and composed the theme song for Run Lola Run. She speaks fluent French, German and English.

Source: mumbaimirror.com