Reports about a film being made on the life of Kishore Kumar have been appearing in the media for over a year now. The latest is that Shree Ashtavinayak Cinevision is making one with Ranbir Kapoor essaying the late legend, while directors like Shoojit Sircar, Sudhir Mishra, Nagesh Kukunoor and even Shashanka Ghosh are in the running to helm the biopic. However, a reliable source informs us that while Kapoor will play Kishore Kumar, the movie will be directed by Anurag Basu for UTV Motion Pictures.

Our source says, “Kishore Kumar’s wife, Mrs Leena Chandavarkar has given the rights to to UTV make the film. Anurag Basu has a good relationship with UTV, having directed Metro for them. They will complete the paperwork next week.”

On being contacted, Chandavarkar confirmed that UTV has the rights to make the film on Kishore Kumar. “I met Vikas and Rucha from UTV and they informed me that they’re in the process of finalising things. They have a good reputation and I trust them to make a good film,” she said.

She added that she would love to see Kapoor play Kishore Kumar because, “he’s a wonderful actor with great comic timing and is also a very good dancer. He has an amazing screen presence and above all, he’s the grandson of the legendary Raj Kapoor saab.”

When asked about Anurag Basu helming the movie, Chandavarkar said, “I’ve seen his Gangster and Metro and I think he’s a very good director. In the interim, there was also talk about Imtiaz Ali directing the film. During my meeting with Vikas and Rucha, I was told that Shoojit won’t be directing the film now and they will inform me once the director is finalised.”

Siddharth Roy Kapoor, CEO of UTV, and Basu were unavailable for comment. Standing by the story, our souce informs us that Basu will start the biopic after wrapping up Silence with Kapoor, who plays a deaf-mute character in it.