Abhishek chooses Mani Ratnam over Ramu

There is a reason why Abhishek Bachchan is not doing Ram Gopal Varma 's 'Sholay'.

Both Ramu and Mani Ratnam have been instrumental in bringing forth Abhi's acting talent in their movies Sarkar and Yuva respectively. And to make a choice between the two is certainly difficult for the young Bachchan, as he himself put it in an interview some time back.

When it came to choosing between Ramu's remake of Ramesh Sippy's classic movie Sholay and Mani Ratnam's next project, Abhi chose the latter.

But that is not to say that Abhi now prefers Ratnam to Ramu. The fact is that Abhi is already doing two films with Ramu – Ek and 'Sarkar' sequel.

And to even things out between his two favourite directors, Abhi chose to do Ratnam's English movie over Ramu's 'Sholay'.

The Mani Ratnam project is said to be a big venture that will have Abhi playing a character that ages from 16 to 60. It is learnt that the movie will be shot in London.

In Ramu's 'Sholay', Abhi was approached to play the good-humoured Veeru. The role was later also offered to Saif Ali Khan who had no spare dates to give to Ramu's project and therefore declined the offer.