Katrina following Aishwarya in every step

Katrina Kaif, it seems, is in a big hurry to step into Aishwarya Bachchan's shoes. Says a source, "Katrina has aspired to be in Aishwarya Bachchan's shoes personally and professionally ever since she started dating Salman. The actress has never admitted to seeing Salman; because Ash never did. Kat is working with the same producers and directors like Yash Raj and Raj Kumar Santoshi, and now the London girl wants to take over Ash's 'endorsement queen' tag."

It has now become apparent that Katrina was not the original choice of replacement for Aishwarya's Nakshatra diamond jewellery ad. The advertisers had approached Deepika but she refused because she wasn't happy with the money and their terms. But Katrina has happily accepted the same terms and money as she's willing to do anything to replace Ash."

Atul Kasbekar of Bling, who handles Deepika's endorsements says, "Yes, we (Deepika and Bling) were in talks with Nakshatra but the terms didn't work out for us." He confirms that the money offered was too little, "We never discuss funds but yes, what was offered to Deepika was lower than her current market rate."

He also admits that the ad was nixed because they wanted an exclusivity contract abroad, "That wasn't possible as Deepika is also working for international brands in Dubai and for P4 Watches." Atul maintains that they are in no hurry to compete with anyone or step into someone else's shoes, "We want to showcase Deepika as the 'lambi race ka ghoda'. Where's the tearing rush to compete with anyone? She has declined 20 brands. We don't want to compete with Ash or anyone else.

Our criteria are complicated. These include the creatives, the agency involved, where the ad will be released, if it adds a different dimension, is it a niche or global brand, etc. We are in no race with anybody." When we saw Katrina posing oh-so-demurely in a saree for the Nakshatra press conference; we couldn't help but remember Aishwarya doing something very similar way back in 2006. Now that the older Ash has had to make way for the younger Kat, we can't help but compare the two.