The Slumdog Millionaire actress starts shooting an Indian version of the classic Thomas Hardy tragic novel on location in Rajasthan and Mumbai on February 28th. Riz Ahmed (Four Lions) will co-star as the son of a wealthy property developer who falls for the daughter of an auto rickshaw driver. Trishna will be directed by Michael Winterbottom (A Mighty Heart). Sales agent Bankside has begun selling the film in Berlin. This is the 3rd time that Michael Winterbottom has turned to author Thomas Hardy for his source material. First he made Jude (1996), starring Kate Winslet and Christopher Eccleston, then he made The Claim (2000), a Klondike version of The Mayor of Casterbridge. Winterbottom’s producer partner Andrew Eaton tells me that Winterbottom has always been a big Hardy fan. He made a short at university based on the pig-sticking scene in Jude The Obscure and then got to film it for real 10 years later. This is the 7th time that Hardy’s tragedy has been filmed – most famously Roman Polanski’s Tess, which starred Natassia Kinski as the trusting servant girl who’s abused by the men around her.