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.