Urvashi Rautela shared this image (courtesy: urvashirautela)
Urvashi Rautela went to Cannes this year, making several red carpet appearances in outfits that were progressively tackier and while the film festival is long over, headlines featuring Urvashi continue. There were any number of Indians at this year's Cannes Film Festival, from L'Oreal ambassadors Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Anushka Sharma to several influencers. The only desi actresses on the red carpet with actual films showing at Cannes were Sunny Leone and Priyanka Bose, stars of Anurag Kashyap's Kennedy and Kanu Behl's Agra respectively. Most others were there representing brands and didn't claim otherwise – except Urvashi Rautela.
The former beauty queen, by her own account, was representing a biopic of Parveen Babi which was to be launched in a photocall on the French Riviera. It's not unusual for Indian films to be promoted this way on the sidelines of the film festival – Aishwarya launched 2012 film Heroine which was eventually made with Kareena Kapoor, and Mallika Sherawat memorable publicized her film Hisss by posing with snakes.
It seems, however, that the Internet suspected Urvashi Rautela of telling a tall tale – just like they didn't buy her claim last year that she met Leonardo DiCaprio at Cannes and he told her she was talented actress.
The Parveen Babi biopic story seemed like it might be just that – a story – because it appeared that Urvashi alone from the supposed biopic team was at Cannes. An investigation by Hindustan Times found that the existence of such a biopic was in doubt. "It is very clear that she is lying, and it is bogus news. There is no such project being made. There are no conversations around any such project in the trade circuit too. Also, a photocall launch without anyone from the makers side is just not possible. So, Urvashi was there all by herself, there was no producer, writer, director… So what is this photocall launch? It shows how much truth is in her claim. She has not even revealed the names of the makers. She could have said that she wants to do, or is thinking of doing, but alleging that it is being made without the name of the team is definitely not credible," a source told Hindustan Times.
A second source told the publication, "No artiste has the power to announcement a project just like that. And something like a biopic on Parveen Babi will only get announced once the production work has begun. And that too usually comes from the director or production house's end. Urvashi's claim is only to get some limelight."
Urvashi Rautela, who has a handful of acting credits including Singh Saab The Great and Pagalpanti, addresses the implication that she had lied by posting what appears to be a script for the co-called Parveen Babi biopic, which names the producer as Wasim S Khan who has a single credit on IMDb – a 2015 film titled Sorry Daddy. "Bollywood failed Parveen Babi but I will make you proud," Urvashi captioned her post.
Parveen Babi, the troubled star of films like Deewar and Amar Akbar Anthony, was found dead at her apartment in Mumbai in 2005. She has been the fictionalized subject of two films based on her relationship with filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt – Arth (1982), which he wrote and directed, and Woh Lamhe (2006), which he wrote and produced. In addition to Urvashi Rautela's project, assuming it is in the works, a series based on Parveen Babi's life is meant to be in the works.