Anushka loses out to another Anushka

It"s touted as the biggest hit in the history of Telugu cinema. And now Arundhati is all set to be remade in Hindi. Many producers including Ghajini"s Madhu Mantena were vying for the Hindi remake rights. But the producer of the original film M. Shyam Prasad Reddy has decided to remake the film in Hindi.

Sonu Sood, who played the main antagonist in the Telugu film and is all set to encore the same part in Hindi version.“I"m excited because we all worked very hard on making the Telugu original something special. Lots of producers wanted to remake it in Hindi. But now the original producer has decided to go for it. The Hindi Arundhati will be far more expensive and polished. We start shooting in June," revealed Sonu.

Sood has already started preparing for the part. “The Hindi version will have to be severely revised." The remake expert Priyadarshan was approached to direct Arundhati in Hindi. Apparently Priyadarshan could not allot time at such short notice.

“And the original director Kodi Ramkrishna can"t understand Hindi. So we"re probably going with a guy named Rahul who did all the special effects in Tamil."

And now the most crucial question is, who plays the central role of Arundhati in this woman-dominated film? Though no one is willing to commit to any name, sources reveal that the makers of Arundhati were very keen to sign Anushka Sharma who starred with Shahrukh Khan in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.

Says the source, “They needed someone strong, robust, young and determined and very North Indian as the lead in Hindi. They really wanted Anushka Sharma. She was perfect. But the producer was under the impression that she"s under contract with Yash Raj Films and unable to do any outside film. Now they might settle for the actress who played the lead in the Telugu Arundhati in Hindi version too. Coincidentally her name is also Anushka."

Surprisingly, Arjan (Fashion) Bajwa, who played the romantic lead in Arundhati, is not part of the Hindi remake. When questioned Arjan says, “They haven"t asked me. Even if they had I wouldn"t do it. Have you seen what has been done to my role in the Telugu film?"