Priya Karfa (above), who is tipped to play Jaya Bachchan

The Silsila goes on... Rekha and Jaya Bachchan will come together on screen again — not as actors as in the Yash Chopra film, but as arch-rivals in their relationship with Amitabh Bachchan.

A mega serial on Bengali television is all set to recreate the Amitabh-Rekha romance that became the talk of the country in the Seventies and still stirs up rumours.

Aired on Doordarshan, Bandini traces Rekha’s exciting journey to stardom, from her troubled childhood to the string of men in her life.

It is based on Dulendra Bhowmick’s novel Joymala. “When I read the book it reminded me of Rekha, though the novel doesn’t mention her. The plot revolves around an actor and his estranged daughter Kajol. The actor’s character is based on Rekha’s father Gemini Ganeshan,” says Bandini director Bappa Banerjee,

“There are other similarities too. The protagonist Kajol is almost forced into films by her mother and professional rivalry strains the father-daughter relationship. Bandini begins with Rekha and Gemini Ganeshan’s relationship, but later we will introduce other characters, like Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan and Vinod Mehra.”

Indrani Halder as Rekha (above) on the sets of Bandini. Picture by Aranya Sen

Since the serial is in Bengali, the backdrop for Bandini is Tollywood, where Kajol is a sought-after actress. “Rekha had a very colourful life and the serial will deal with all her affairs. Right now, we are focussing on how she suffered when her father disowned her,” says Indrani Halder, who plays Kajol.

“We are trying to create Rekha’s look. I have worked on the costumes she wore in her films and I am also sporting her hairstyle. I checked out her photographs on the Internet and followed her makeover. I also watched some of her earlier films and read up newspaper articles. Besides, the script is sticking to the novel, so it isn’t much of a problem,” adds Indrani, in between shooting for Bandini at Technicians Studio.

While Santu Mukherjee plays Gemini Ganeshan, the casting for the men in Rekha’s life is yet to be finalised.

TV actress Priya Karfa is tipped to play Jaya Bachchan. “I am supposed to do Jaya character. But I will get to know about my look only after I start shooting from December 11,” says Priya.

Catch the Rekha-Jaya fireworks on DD1, Thursday and Friday, at 4pm.