A 30 million pounds film on the life of Indian Congress President Sonia Gandhi based on journalist Rasheed Kidwai’s ‘Sonia - A Biography’ is progressing in a great way. The Producers working on the film visited Cambridge and its restaurant where Sonia first met husband Rajiv Gandhi in February 1965.

The film traces Sonia (then Sonia Maino now Sonia Gandhi) 40-year journey from the Varsity restaurant, to her present role as a leader of world’s oldest political party and the head of India’s ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

The film is directed by Jagmohan Mundhra and is likely to feature Italian actress Monica Bellucci as Sonia. Search for actor who will play former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, is still on.

The film team including Kidwai, Mundhra, screenplay writer Carl Austin and editor Sanjeev, found that little had changed in the sylvan university town since that Saturday evening in 1965 when Sonia Maino visited the varsity restaurant for dinner on St Andrew’s Road. It was here that she met Rajiv, who was then 20-years-old.

They found that on that fateful day she was greeted by Charlie Luigi, the owner of Varsity. Sonia wanted a table by the window, but all the tables by the ground floor window were occupied. So Luigi led the young woman through the restaurant, past the round table in front of the cash desk, where a group of Indian and Pakistani students - Rajiv and Sanjay Gandhi, Tahir Jahangir and Suhail Iftekhar - were animatedly discussing politics.

As Sonia walked past, Rajiv was struck by her charm. For Sonia, too, it was love at first sight. Sensing that both were mesmerised, Sonia’s German friend Christian did the introductions. At that time, Rajiv was studying at Trinity College while Sonia was a student of the Lennox Cook School of Languages, the most expensive and reputed school that offered proficiency courses to non-English speaking students.

Going by their findings it feels they have a pretty good material for a good film!