Karishma is afraid!

If Bunty Walia and National award winning director Rahul Dholakia had had their way, Karisma Kapur would have made her much-touted comeback on the big screen opposite Sanjay Dutt in Lamha.

Karisma had been finalised to play the female lead in Lamha, but she reportedly backed out at the last minute because she feared shooting in the troubled Kashmir valley where a significant part of the film is going to be shot. However, the search for the girl to star opposite Dutt in the film is over. Bipasha Basu has replaced Karisma.
When contacted, Bunty confirmed and said, “Yes. Bipasha is doing Lamha. She suits the role perfectly.”

Earlier, there were also rumours that Ameesha Patel and Sonam Kapoor might star opposite Sanju. Dholakia said, “Like we do in every casting process, Bunty had spoken to a few other girls. We had finalised on Karisma who said that she loved the role. But later, she got back to Bunty and told him that she had reservations about shooting in the Kashmir valley.”

Rahul and Bunty, of course, are happy to have Bips on board. “Bipasha is willing to spend a lot of time in the Kashmir valley and learn the way a Kashmiri girl should speak. We are not disappointed that Karisma is not doing the film.”