French-Afghan filmmaker Atiq Rahimi is in plans to cast Amitabh Bachchan in a film based on Rabindranath Tagore’s popular story an Afghan dry-fruit seller and his love for a little girl whom he takes as his daughter. Though the story has been adapted a number of times for the big screen in the past, at least two versions of the tale have been made famous in films. Now, comes a third version. It is said that Bachchan will reprise the role of the Kabuliwala made famous by Balraj Sahni in the film that is to be shot in Kolkata and parts of Afghanistan next year.

75-year old actor-filmmaker Manoj Kumar, who recently celebrated his 75th birthday, has been approached by French-Afghan writer Atiq for a contemporary take on the 1961 film Kabuliwala, the big screen adaptation of Rabindranath Tagore’s acclaimed short story by the same name. “Mr Rahimi wants me to act in the movie which will have the same script but will be set in the Afghanistan of today,” the veteran observes.