Ayesha Takia to star in Aladin

Has Ayesha Takia been signed by Sujoy Ghosh for his upcoming biggie Aladin and the Mystery of the Lamp?

"How did you get to know about it", questions Sujoy with a surprised tone, "Frankly I had not told anyone about it!" Well, we do have our sources to indicate developments like these. So is it true or not? "Well, it is indeed true", confirms Sujoy from Amsterdam.

Ayesha Takia in a children's film does sound like an exciting idea. After all she is one of the cutest girls around with a sweet aura to boast. Also, she is popular amongst children. "What you say is all right but then I didn't sign her just because she is cute", clarifies Sujoy, "What I needed was an actress for this role and Ayesha fits in like a T."

Ayesha was also seen in Sujoy's last release Home Delivery. Is there a new director-actor association building up here? "It was a good experience to have worked together in Home Delivery. While HD had her as a sweet-n-innocent plain Jane, in Aladin she would be seen as a beautiful-n-charming Princess Jasmine. I am sure she would light up the screen," he says fondly.

Well, screen will certainly light up considering the fact that Aladin has none other than Amitabh Bachchan as Genius, the Genie along with Sanjay Dutt while Riteish Deshmukh plays the title role of Aladin.

The film's principal shoot is expected to begin in the second half of the year as Aladin aims for a 2008 release. Presented by Ramesh Sippy, the film is produced by Rohan Sippy.