Hollywood star Michael Douglas has signed former Miss World and Bollywood queen Aishwarya Rai for his forthcoming venture — Racing the Monsoon. The deal was signed in Mumbai today.
The international action flick is to be produced jointly by Sahara One Motion Pictures, Percept Pictures Company and Douglas. The film, expected to go on floors early 2006, will be shot entirely in India with a huge portion being shot at the picturesque Amby Valley on the Pune-Mumbai highway.
Aishwarya Rai is being considered for the lead female role although nothing is yet finalised, said a Sahara One official. Douglas will reportedly have a double role in the film.
The film is being directed by Steven Carr.
Aishwarya Rai today confirmed she would appear with Hollywood veteran Michael Douglas in "Racing The Monsoon", an action movie about a diamond heist aboard a train.
"I don't want to shoot my mouth off now and end up looking foolish. Right now I'm looking forward to the release of 'Shabd', nothing else," said the star of "Bride and Prejudice", admitting she had met Douglas at a dinner Monday night.
"But yes, as of now I've got the script. And as things stand right now, yes, I'm doing it. Let's see what happens during the course of the year," Aishwarya told IANS.
Aishwarya wasn't keen on talking about the proposed film, which Douglas has said would be shot in India as a joint venture between his production House Further Films and the Indian company Sahara One Motion Pictures.
"I didn't know Michael Douglas would come down to India and talk about the project. I feel there's a lot of time between the announcement and the execution," she said.
Aishwarya and Douglas, the star of movies like "Romancing The Stone" and "Disclosure", met at an exclusive dinner hosted by Sahara India, of which she is a brand ambassador, and chatted cordially.
This was Douglas's first trip to India to settle matters related to "Racing The Monsoon", which he said Monday was inspired by a report in The Wall Street Journal about Indian couriers called 'angadias' who transfer money and diamonds and often travel by train.
During the course of 2005, Douglas will be back in India to scout for locations and tie up pre-production details. Shooting of the film is expected to begin early next year.