INDIA — Sherlyn Chopra, one of Bollywood's most outspoken and controversial young stars, is the first to be cast in Indian director Rupesh Paul's "Kamasutra 3D."
Chopra's role in the film is being kept under wraps, but is said to be central to the story and a major step in Chopra's career which continues to gain momentum since becoming the first Indian woman to pose nude for Playboy.
"I am glad to have Sherlyn on board," Paul said in a statement. "She has the earthiness and sensuality that her character requires. This will be a redefining film of her career."
Paul, who first announced Kamasutra 3D at this year's Cannes Film Festival, said finding actors to star in the project has been difficult due to its erotic themes, which some view as pornographic.
"India is known as a land of Kamasutra. The epic erotica is as significant as Gita or Ramayana," Paul said. "It is not just about sensuality and eroticism. It is a struggle of human mind to understand one of the most important areas of life. It is pathetic to relate this ancient scripture to porn."
Chopra is no stranger to conservative attitudes, having experienced a backlash in India when news broke out about her Playboy pictorial. On her Twitter account, she echoed Paul's sentiments about the film's subject.
"It is intriguing to know how little of the Kama Sutra is a sex tutorial [and] how much of it is an intricate guide to the art of living," she tweets. "The Kamasutra — 'kama' means desire, while 'sutra' means thread — is neither exclusively a sex manual nor, as believed, a sacred/religious work."
"The Kamasutra 3D" is being shopped this month at the American Film Market in Santa Monica, Calif.
