Madhur Bhandarkar to direct Kareena Kapoor

Madhur Bhandarkar recently approached Kareena Kapoor for a role in his next flick. Says a source close to Kareena, "Madhur is planning to direct a hard-sitting social film for which he wants Kareena. He loved her in Chameli." Adds the source, "Kareena has been offered Madhur's film. It's a fantastic, heroine-oriented script and she is meeting him today for a narration. Bebo is very excited to be working with him. They have both been keen on working together for a long time. Madhur had approached her for Page 3 (Konkana's role) and for Fashion (Priyanka's role) but her dates didn't work out.

Kareena says, "Madhur is any actress's dream director. He can extract the best performances from anybody." Madhur's film will be Kareena's fourth big film this year. She is already doing Karan Johar's Stepmom and Saif Ali Khan's Agent Vinod and has now just signed Rohit Shetty's Golmaal 3 opposite Ajay Devgn. Also, last week, Priyanka Chopra won the National award in the Best Actress category for Madhur's Fashion.

Bebo is now hoping that Bhandarkar is third-time lucky (Page 3 and Fashion being his two wins). She wants to be part of a National award-winning film and is in talks with the director. Meanwhile, Madhur is also planning a funny film on the lines of a Hrishikesh Mukherjee comedy based on politicians, for which he wants to sign Tabu.