Maid to order for JLo!

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">It''s being billed as the most romantic film since Pretty Woman. Meet Made In Manhattan, which hit theatres in town recently. Starring Jennifer Lopez, the film is the story of a hardworking maid and a determined single mother who falls for a rising politician who, in turn, mistakenly assumes that she is a socialite guest at the hotel where he has put up.<br /><br />Of course, it''s no surprise that Julia Roberts, who made a name for herself with Pretty Woman, was initially asked to do the encore.After all, Made In Manhattan is a dream story of a rich guy and a working woman falling in love — in other words, it is Pretty Woman in a different setting.<br /><br />Incidentally, the Made In Manhattan project began as a script by Edmond Dantes and was submitted by Elaine Goldsmith Thomas, a successful agent to Julia Roberts. She, however, passed on the film and the project underwent revision. "The film has elements of such classic romantic comedies as Roman Holiday, Working Girl and Pretty Woman," says Thomas, "but it needed to be based more in reality." With this taken care of, Maid In Manhattan was ready to roll again. And this time round, the script went to JLo.<br /><br />"Jennifer stayed at my house one weekend and we talked about the story into the night," says Thomas, who is also the producer of the film, "She knew this character in a way I never could. She talked about the kind of person Marisa Ventura (Lopez''s character) would be, the kind of life she would lead. Through Jennifer, we were able to discover nuances that would make her character real."<br /><br />With Lopez consenting to do the film, she started spending time with single mothers and housekeepers and, more importantly, drew from her own experiences of growing up in the Bronx. And like Lopez, Marisa is a Bronx-born Puerto Rican woman from a working-class background. "I knew this girl better than any character I had come across," says Lopez. Yes, the maid in Maid In Manhattan was made to order!<br /><br /><span style="" font-style:="" italic="">pankaj.kapoor2000@indiatimes.com</span></div> </div>