By Subhash K Jha

The casting of David Dhawan's version of Sai Paranjpye's 1981 cult comedy Chashme Buddoor just got even more interesting. After signing Pakistani pop star Ali Zafar for Farouq Shaikh's part, and Tamil star Siddharth for Ravi Baswani's part, David has now signed the relatively-unknown Divyendu Sharma to play the pivotal third protagonist.

Divyendu who shot to a certain kind of unexpected fame with his performance as the love-smothered cynical and abusive character Liquid in Luv Sinha's sleeper hit Pyaar Ka Punchnaama, bagged the role in a most bizarre manner.

After casting Ali and Siddharth David couldn't seem to find the right face and personality to play Omi, the part Rakesh Bedi played with laconic humour in Paranjpye's film.

Then one day David saw Divyendu in an ad where he was selling satellite channels with his two room-mates. David immediately saw his Omi in Divyendu who after his punch-filled role in Pyaar Ka Punchnaama was waiting for the Next Big Role.

Says Divyendu, "Yes, I am doing David Dhawan's Chashme Buddoor. I am a big fan of Sai Paranjpye's films and I've seen her Chashme Buddoor a number of times. This is just the break I wanted after Pyaar Ka Punchnaama. "

Says David, "I wanted someone spontaneous, funny and intelligent to play Rakesh Bedi's part. You see, with Rishi Kapoor and Anupam Kher in the cast, and with Ali and Siddharth playing the two heroes, the third actor has to sparkle on screen. I saw that spark in Divyendu. Very bright actor. I am having a ball directing him and the rest. "

Divyendu will now spend some time with Rakesh Bedi to get to know more about the character, although he intends to play it in his own way.