WHY?

An IM from Sudarshan and an impassioned email from JR gave me enough warning before I hit the Rediff page announcing a casting update for Vishal Bhardwaj's forthcoming Mr. Mehta and Mrs. Singh. Notes about Aamir's casting were doing the rounds were doing the rounds. But the choice of Kareena Kapoor, despite offering a unique combination, fills me with dread as well. Not really for the choice, but more for the usual press-friendly Big B-style diplomatic statements applauding her acting[sic] abilities[really sic]. Had RGV announced such a casting decision, he would have probably let the magic of the announcement work its own charm. Makes me dread a transformation like Amol Palekar's with Paheli. JR wonders if Vishal's going the Sudhir Mishra way (ref: Chameli). I think the tradeoff there (in terms of statements lauding acting abilities [sic again]) was a bit more acceptable, since we got Kareena playing true-to-life.

Then again, perhaps Ms K has some latent abilities that both Mishra and Vishal saw a spark of. Who knows, to be fair, they might actually provide evidence that some star kids can act.