This is the second time that Manisha will work with Bhansali, after the 1996 Khamoshi – The Musical, that was the director’s debut movie. Khamoshi, one of my personal favorites, flopped at the box office.

My Friend Pinto, that will go on the floors in end-2009 or early 2010, is set for a 2011 release. The movie will be directed by Raghav Dar, assistant director of Guru and associate director of Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Na.

Dar will also script the movie along with Arun Sukumar.

Manisha Koirala was last seen in the absolutely dated Mehbooba – the movie is said to have been in the cans for eight years – in 2008.

Photo: Manisha Koirala

The extremely talented actress has acted in flop after flop in the past 10 years, with the exception of the 2002 Company. Her only other hits have been her first Hindi film, Saudagar (1991), 1942: A Love Story (1994), Bombay (1995), and Dil Se (1998).

Some recent reports say that Manisha Koirala, who hails from the premier political Koirala family in Nepal, is considering joining politics. The actress is reported to have said that she will split her time between Kathmandu and Los Angeles.

Sanjay Leela  Bhansali is currently working on the Hrithik Roshan-Aishwarya Rai starrer Guzarish, that will be released in 2010, and Chenab Gandhi, starring Amitabh Bachchan, John Abraham and Vidya Balan.

Photo: Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in Jodhaa Akbar

No details were available about the movie so far, though Sanjay Leela Bhansali had announced the movie quite a long time back.

Now we know something more about the movie. Its name.

And yes, another bit of detail that is being bandied about: Resul Pookutty will do the sound mixing.

I think one will have to wait for another few months to be handed another teeny-weeny detail about Guzarish, like, maybe, the name of one other member of the cast, apart from Hrithik and Aishwarya.

We live in hope.

Whatever the story line of Guzarish be, the movie should be decent. One, because Sanjay Leela Bhansali is a pretty good director and, two, the on-screen chemistry between Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai is pure dynamite.

I can’t think of any other screen couple in recent Hindi film history that has set the screen afire in the way these two do. The only names that comes to mind are Dilip Kumar and Madhubala. They just had to look at each other to make the air sizzle.

Apparently, Guzarish is in pre-production and will be released in 2010.

Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan were last seen in Ashutosh Gowariker’s epic movie Jodhaa Akbar. The movie was more of a historical romance, with Hrithik playing Mughal emperor Akbar and Aishwarya his Hindu wife, Jodhaa.

The movie was a blockbuster, despite a slow start, and swept all the main awards at nearly all award functions, in 2008.

It won the Best Film, Best Actor, and Best Director award at both the Filmfare and Star Screen awards.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali is also working on Chenab Gandhi, starring Amitabh Bachchan, John Abraham and Vidya Balan. The movie chronicles the life and struggles of Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan, also known as Frontier Gandhi.

Chenab Gandhi will go into production in May 2009.

Update: Hrithik Roshan sings for Kites movie

Amitabh Bachchan will star in the title role in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Chenab Gandhi

As is par for the course for most movies in production, Chenab Gandhi too is surrounded by rumors about changes in the cast and so on.

For a while, there was a buzz about Hurman Baweja replacing John Abraham in Chenab Gandhi.

Interestingly, while there have been rumors about Hurman Baweja being replaced by all kinds of actors in all his movies, this is the first time there is a rumor doing the rounds that he has replaced someone.

There is something to cheer about in that, for Hurman at least!

The rumor has been squashed squarely, though, by the filmmakers of Chenab Gandhi.

Apparently, John Abraham has been busy with shooting for Hook Ya Crook, which he will wrap up by April 20, 2009, and start shooting for Chenab Gandhi, from May 8, 2009.

Chenab Gandhi stars Amitabh Bachchan in the lead role of Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan, also known as Frontier Gandhi, John Abraham, and Vidya Balan.

Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan with Mahatma Gandhi

The movie will be directed by Vibha Puri and written by Bhavani Iyer, writer of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s acclaimed Black.

Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan was the leader of the independence movement in India’s Northwest Frontier. He dedicated his life to non-violence and was one of the staunchest supporters of Mahatma Gandhi.

Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan is credited with forming the Khudai Khidmatgars in the 1920s that took on the British police with non-violent opposition (Satyagraha).

After partition, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan was branded anti-Muslim and was arrested, imprisoned, and exiled on and off for nearly 52 years of his life.

In 2008, TC McLuhan wrote and directed a documentary The Frontier Gandhi: Badshah Khan, a Torch for Peace.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali has directed only four movies after his first movie Khamoshi released in 1996. The movie was a disaster at the box office, but I still believe it is Bhansali’s best and most pure work so far.

It’s a pity he went into the grand spectacle mode after Khamoshi, stripping his movies of its soul.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s last movie Saawariya met with a lot of criticism. I haven’t watched it, so I wouldn’t know how much the movie merited it.

The next movie he is working on is Guzarish starring the golden couple Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai. The movie is in pre-production and will be released in 2010.