...and the winner is or rather are Mani Ratnam and Delhi Belly director Abhinay Deo. The concern of these directors was to sign the duo of Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan first in their movies.

Mani Ratnam has already bounced up with the pair for his profect and shooting have been in the process with "Ravana" while Abinay has finalised January 4 as the D-day to start his film "Crooked" with the couple.

Anecdote about the film "Crooked" are that it is inspired from a Hollywood flick "The Bourne Identity". The film will have a 40-day non-stop schedule in the beginning. The film is produced by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani's Excel Entertainment. It also stars Jimmy Shergill, Boman Irani and Gul Panag. It will be shot in Thailand, Greece, Turkey and UK.

- Samaylive.com