Ash Quitting Movies?

Rumors of Abhishek Bachchan – Aishwarya Rai marriage are fast gathering momentum. The gossip mills have now spun another tale: The actress has decided to quit movies once she marries Bachchan Jr., although both Abhishek and Ash haven't issued any official statement yet. If the news is indeed true, what happens to the projects Ash had signed sometime back?

If readers would recall, Ash had been confirmed for HAPPY BIRTHDAY, with John Abraham as her co-star. Produced by Gaurang Doshi [AANKHEN, DEEWAAR] and directed by Sriram Raghavan [currently directing JOHNNY GADDAAR and an untitled venture for Rohan Sippy with Akshay Kumar heading the cast], the film was supposed to start in early 2007.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY is starting in March. Definitely with Aishwarya Rai. No, she hasn't backed out of the project. Nor has she refunded the signing amount. There's no truth to this rumor," Gaurang clears the air. Wasn't he supposed to start the film in January? "Besides John, Ash and Paresh Rawal, there are as many as 41 characters in the film, which we haven't finalized yet. But HAPPY BIRTHDAY will take off by March-end and we plan to wrap up its shooting by 10th July," Gaurang divulges.