Aparna Sen, Lillete Dubey, and Shabana Azmi to come together for an English film

Filmmaker Aparna Sen is set to make an English film starring herself, Shabana Azmi, and Lillete Dubey in the lead roles. The film will be based on Mahesh Elkunchwar's play, Sonata. Aparna Sen, a three-time National Award winner, will be directing the film. It will mark the end of Sen's long hiatus from direction since the Bengali film, Arshingar (2015). 

The director emphasised that the entire cast had a great time shooting for the film, and added, that both Azmi and Dubey signed for the film without looking at the script. Speaking to PTI, she said, "Both of them just accepted the roles without listening to the script. They just said yes. They always have their own inputs. They bring to the characters something you have not anticipated." 

This will mark the second collaboration between Aparna Sen and Shabana Azmi on screen. The two actresses were last seen together in Mrinal Sen's Ek Din Achanak (1989). Speaking about the film, Aparna said, "This is about female bonding, bonding among three friends in college. All three very intelligent women having led successful fields. They are all involved in their work and respect each others intelligence." 

The film deals with the mid-life crisis of three women, namely Aruna Chaturvedi, Dolon Sen, and Subhadra Parekh played by Aparna Sen, Shabana Azmi, and Lillete Dubey respectively. Aparna, who has written the script of the film herself, explained that she decided to make the film in English since, 'all the three characters hail from different parts of India and hence naturally they would converse in English.' 

The actress is also the mother of Konkona Sen Sharma, who recently turned director herself with A Death In The Gunj. The film is being produced by HK Studios and is scheduled for a theatrical release in mid-April.