Rajni, Ash clash

Aishwarya Rai may be excited about Shankar’s magnum opus, Robot but sources reveal the actress is having a hard time matching her dates with co-star Rajnikanth. Before Ash confirmed her name for the project, there was buzz that she wasn’t interested in the film. However the reason behind Ash’s reluctance stemmed from the fact that she would have to commit bulk dates for the project.

A source close to the project reveals, “Shankar wanted two months of back-to-back dates from Ash. But she wasn’t in a position to commit for the required dates. However Shankar needed those particular dates, as they matched with Rajni’s. He’s been having a tough time trying to coordinate their dates for the film.”

Since the film is being made on a lavish budget, Shankar doesn’t want to take any risk and incur losses. Another reason that’s worrying Shankar is that Robot’s plot has leaked and he wants to make sure he goes on the floors before anyone else picks up the idea.

The director has decided to go ahead and start the shoot with Ash and Rajnikanth separately. “He is shooting their solo scenes first and then will coordinate the joint scenes as and when their dates match.” The casting took time since Shah Rukh and Deepika backed out and had to be replaced with Rajnikanth and Ash. Now Shankar wants to make sure that the project doesn’t get delayed due to any date issues.

Tushar Joshi, Mid-Day