Vishal's next is a Casablanca-like love triangle

Set against the Second World War, the film, titled Rangoon, will feature Kangana Ranaut, Saif Ali Khan and Shahid Kapoor.

Rangoon is a dream Vishal Bhardwaj has been nurturing for the last seven years.

Now, Kangana Ranaut will join Saif Ali Khan and Shahid Kapoor in a Casablanca-like love triangle set against the backdrop of the Second World War.

Haider, Vishal's Indianised adaptation of Hamlet set in Kashmir, which bagged five National Awards gave him the power he needed to make this film which he describes as Moulin Rouge meet Saving Private Ryan.

"It's my most expensive film to date and will be my most musical," Vishal told Mirror.

Talking about the subject he explains how it will be an eye-opener on a chapter of history that many of us are completely unaware of. "If you visit a cemetery in Imphal, Manipur, you will see the graves of so many young soldiers who lost their lives in the Second World War. And the dark irony is that Indians were killimg Indians because some of these soldiers fought for the Brtish army against Subhash Chandra Bose's Indian National Army in Rangoon," he explains, adding that the subject has been with him for a while now and he's been working on the script waiting for the right cast.

Just before the release of Haider he had planned to roll with the sequel of Kaminey next, with Shahid in the lead. But, as he points out, he can make Kaminey 2 two years from now but he can't lose this opportunity to launch his dream project. "I'm looking forward to reuniting with Saif and Shahid who I've worked with earlier in Omkara and Kaminey and Haider. And Kangana with whom it'll be a first," he smiles.

The two met recently in Paris where, as the filmmaker had told Mirror (March 12), Kangana took him out for dinner. "She served me the most expensive wines and I'm still intoxicated," he chuckles. "She's a brilliant actress and though that night itself we had agreed to work together, I hadn't been sure about my next project then. She was always my first choice for Rangoon but till I could offer it to her, I didn't want to talk about it because I was afraid kissi ki nazar na lag jaye. I'm sure we will challenge each other as we approach this cinematic journey together."