Aishwarya Rai Bachchan replaced by beauty queen

Looks like things are finally turning straight for Crooked. That's Farhan Akhtar-Ritesh Sidhwani's next production toplining Abhishek Bachchan, under the direction of Abhinay Deo. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who had been reportedly finalised to play the female lead, eventually opted out due to date issues.

After her exit, the producers and director were looking for a suitable replacement. Apparently, Akhtar, Sidhwani and Deol mutually decided to look for a new face to cast opposite Bachchan.

According to our source, Sarah Jane, former Miss India (2007) has been confirmed to step into Aishwarya's role in the film which is said to be inspired by the Bourne series featuring Matt Damon. However, when contacted, Jane refrained from confirming her presence in the film. "Yes, I did meet the filmmakers. But I can't say anything more than that, because I don't know. It's up to them to confirm the news first and make the official announcement," is all she was willing to say for now.

Director Deo too declined to comment saying the casting was still in process. "We're still to finalise things. Only after everything has been finalised, in some days, the producers will give out the necessary information," he said. On being asked about Aishwarya opting out of the film, he reiterated, "Ritesh will be the best person to speak about it all."

On his part, Ritesh Sidhwani remained unavailable for comment. He didn't revert to our text messages either. Meanwhile, Jane is working on polishing her diction with a private tutor and awaiting the release of her first film, Theeradha Vilaiyattu Pillai. Directed by Thiru, it's a Tamil film featuring Vishal, Tanushree Dutta and Neetu Chandra, scheduled to release this summer.