News is breaking that Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan has given her nod for an upcoming Mani Ratnam flick, that’ll also have Tollywood’s Nagarjuna and Mahesh Babu in the lead roles as “protagonists”.
“Aishwarya Rai has confirmed her participation in the project,” a source from within Mani Ratnam’s office told DC.
Nagarjuna has worked with Mani Ratnam previously, in the hugely-successful Geethanjali. For Mahesh though, it will be his first time with the Roja director, although there were reports earlier that the actor and Mani were joining hands for a cinematic interpretation of a Tamil classic, Ponniyin Selvan. That movie is presumably still on hold.
Mani’s proposed project, which is yet to be titled, is a Tamil-Telugu bilingual that is set to go on floors later this year. A representative from Aishwarya’s Mumbai camp said: “She has been in talks with Mani Ratnam but the details of the film are still not known. But she has given her consent. I also know that the makers are planning to start shooting sometime around September-October.”
When contacted, Nagarjuna said he “wasn’t aware of the latest developments” surrounding the project. “I didn’t know about Aishwarya being approached. I did receive a message of condolence from Mani Ratnam when my father died. Perhaps he felt it wasn’t the right time to talk about Aishwarya being roped in,” the actor said.
