Karisma to replace Ash in 'Heroine'

AishwaryaRai Bachchan’s pregnancy has put a spanner in the work of Madhur Bhandarkar’s next film Heroine. The shooting of Madhur Bhandarkar''s ''Heroine'' has been put on hold indefinitely due to lead star Aishwarya Rai Bachchan''s pregnancy, producers UTV said. "At this point, nothing is more important than Aishwarya''s well being and good health," UTV Motion Picture said in a statement. "We would like to put an end to the speculative and factually incorrect stories that are doing the rounds on Heroine, and to clarify the position on the film once and for all. At this point nothing is more important than Aishwarya''s well being and good health," the statement added.
After reports of the film being stalled and Ash not working in it, there are suggestions of many other heroines being considered for the main role. “Ash may not be doing Heroine, but that hasn’t closed any options for Madhur and UTV. Some of the other big names doing the rounds are Rani Mukherjee, Priyanka Chopra and Karisma Kapoor,” says a source.

However, Priyanka has denied all reports of being approached by Madhur. Actually, given their earlier association, she seemed like an obvious choice. Somehow, the makers are keen on Karisma and Rani doing the role. “Hottest of them all is Karisma since she’s making a comeback with Vikram Bhatt’s film. She’s the most experienced of them all. And as she belongs to the first family of Bollywood, she understands the industry very well, better than Ash. No one could have performed better,” says a film enthusiast.

Meanwhile, talks of Rani Mukherjee too are doing the rounds since the other actresses aren’t an option. Preity Zinta has sort of retired from films, Urmila Matondkar would be too old which leaves Madhur with no choice but Rani. She may not be as charismatic as the others, but is definitely in demand,” adds our source.