Aamir picks Jiah Khan

After a hunt that went on for months, Aamir picked Tamil actress Asin to play the female lead. Or so it was believed. We can now reveal that Asin will be around for only the first half of the movie, about an amnesiac's hunt for his fiancee's killer (inspired by Christopher Nolan's manic thriller Mememto).

The second half of the film will rotate around Aamir and Jiah. Our source said, "Aamir's team got in touch with Jiah after seeing her performance in Nishabd. Initially, they were looking to cast either Priyanka Chopra or Kangana Ranaut, but this didn't work out."

After noticing Jiah prance around Amitabh in Nishabd, the casting crew sat up and asked her to audition. Aamir was present during the screen test, and he liked her performance very much, the source said. Though Jiah has been signed on in the project, she prefers not to talk about it.

"I've viral and I am not in a position to talk," she reverted when we SMSed her. But Jiah will soon attend script reading session with Aamir, it is learnt. One reason for Jiah's reticence to talk is the fierce privacy that Aamir demands in his projects.

Another reason is her losing the lead in Boney Kapoor's Pokhri. Boney fired her after she spoke to the press about the projects, revealing detail that Boney thought were best kept secret.

Incidentally, this will be the second remake of Memento in India; Ghajini is the name of the Tamil remake by AR Murgadoss. Aamir has reportedly said this was a working title and might be changed.