Onir wants a Bongshell for his next film Afia

To star in his film on sperm donation mafia

To star in his film on sperm donation mafia

Onir's concern for socio-sexual politics continues to grow. He's all set to shoot a film called Afia about the sperm-donation mafia. It's the story of a 40-plus Bengali woman whose biological clock is ticking away and needs to have a baby urgently.

Rani Mukerji, Bipasha Basu and Nandita Das

Though he isn't talking about it, Onir is apparently in discussion with Rani Mukerji, Bipasha Basu and Nandita Das for the main part.

Age factor
The director needs a Bengali actress of a certain age and stature. But some of the names he has approached are unwilling to play a 40-year old woman. The interesting thing is that Onir was supposed to make Afia with Kalki Koechlin. But has now dropped her from the project. Protests Onir, "I was making a film called Afia with Kalki. But that was different story. Then I came across interesting facts about sperm donation and I wanted to make a film on that instead."u00a0

Onir's research has shown acute irregularities in the procedure of clinical motherhood. "The whole system of donating sperms in our country is murky. Do you know women are legally allowed to have sex with sperm donors if they choose to do so? I found the idea appalling. My film is about a woman who insists on tracking down her sperm donor although there's a secrecy clause binding both parties in this sensitive transaction. "Onir shoots Afia in Kolkata next month.

Research done
The director adds, "I discovered the option that the donor could be the father in law/ brother in law. The very thought is incestuous. Some clinics offer the possibility of actually having sex with the donor, terming it as natural. The husband has the option to be present. My research team and writers first found out facts from the net. We then visited a few sperm banks in Mumbai. But they did not allow us to click pics. But we spoke to people who availed of the facilities."