Shilpa was asked before Ash!

Shilpa Shetty was indeed being considered for the role of Sophie in the "Pink Panther" sequel before the job was handed over to Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

Reaffirming this, her publicist and spokesperson Dale Bhagwagar dismissed claims made by Aishwarya's international agent Simone Sheffield in a Mumbai tabloid that "Aishwarya is the first and only choice to play Sophie in the Hollywood film "Pink Panther".

A couple of secondary actresses claim to have refused the role Ash is starring in".

Bhagwagar said Shilpa was approached about two months ago for playing the "important" character in the film. He said, "We are professional people and we deemed fit not to boast, as we decided not to do the film."

To back his statements, Bhagwagar disclosed the content of an initial mail to Shilpa from the film's casting director Ilene Starger in New York City requesting him to check the availability of dates of the "Big Brother" winner.

"Please let us know her availability as soon as possible. If she is available we would like to have some demo material on her," Bhagwagar quoted Starger. This documented proof, for now is a huge blow to Ash's PR machine.

Shooting for the film, produced by Robert Simonds, started from August 20 in Paris, and is expected to wrap up in the first week of November.

Aishwarya has already been photographed on the sets of the film, also starring Steve Martin, Jean Reno, Emily Mortimer, Andy Garcia, Alfred Molina and John Cleese. After a two-week stop in Paris, the rest of the movie, directed by Harald Zwart, will be shot in Boston and Massachusetts.