vidya With Vidya Balan and Rani Mukerji landing meatier roles in Rajkumar Gupta’s ‘No One Killed Jessica’, news has it that the director is in a fix for he is unable to convince any A-list actress to play the on-screen character of Jessica Lal.

It is believed that Gupta envisioned a big star to play Jessica Lal, the murdered model from Delhi, in his much-hyped project. However, with Vidya playing the role of Jessica’s sister Sabrina Lal and Rani Mukerji playing a journalist on the lines of a firebrand reporter Barkha Dutt, the chances of finding an A-list actor to play Jessica are remote.

With no big actress available, the director and producer UTV have finally decided to rope in a newcomer as Jessica. Talking to a news daily, a close source said, “Once Rani and Vidya were cast, established actresses who were approached guessed they’d have very little to do especially as the character gets murdered in the early part of the story. Now they’ve no choice but to cast a newcomer.”

When enquired, Rajkumar Gupta, the director, confirmed the news and said, “We’re looking at casting a new girl as Jessica. We feel the impact of the crime on the audiences’ mind would be far greater if the actress playing Jessica is an unknown face. We’re looking at a theatre actor for Jessica’s role and for the other smaller roles.”

Meanwhile, UTV’s Siddharth Roy Kapoor added, “Apart from Rani Mukerji and Vidya Balan, all the other characters in the film form the supporting cast. They are good actors but not known faces.”

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