Abhishek to do remake of Abhimaan, not exactly!

By Subhash K Jha

From Rakeysh Mehra's Delhi 6, Abhishek Bachchan is now going into Delhi Belly director Abhinay Deo's next. Deo will plunge straight into his next project with Abhishek right after he finishes his Imran Khan starrer Delhi Belly.

Confirming this directorial coup de grace Abhishek says, "Yes, I'm doing Abhinay Deo's film. I've always been impressed by his ads. And when I heard he was making feature films I was keen to work with him."

In the past one year Abhishek has worked with directors as diverse as Rakeysh Mehra and Mani Ratnam.

He says it has been a time of great learning experiences.

"Oh it was huge. My first release this year was Sarkar Raj. I went on to Drona. I ended last year with Dostana. Then came Delhi 6. I had a wonderful time making all of them.

I'm happy with the work I've done regardless of whether the film has been successful or not. The important thing is to enjoy the journey of making the film. Because that's all you finally take home. I look back on the year with fond memories."

Another major project on the anvil is with wife Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan again, their third film together in the past one after Mani Ratnam's Guru and Ram Gopal Varma's Sarkar Raj.

It's a film based on Abhimaan with Rajiv Menon.

Admits Abhishek, "Yes, Rajiv is a very dear friend. He directed Aishwarya earlier in the Tamil film Kandukondain Kandukondain. He approached us with a subject that isn't exactly a remake of Abhimaan. But it's very similar.

We've both approved and attached ourselves to the subject. Then I'm also doing Rohan Sippy's next. We'll try to do something as different as Bluff Master. I'm also a doing Rakeysh Mehra's Paanch Kaurav with Pa."