Arunoday is hero for Madhur Bhandarkar’s ‘Heroine`!

Ace Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar has finally zeroed in on ‘Yeh Saali Zindagi’ actor, the six feet hunk Arunoday Singh to romance Aishwarya Rai in his most ambitious venture ‘Heroine’.

Rumours had it that hubby Abhishek was one of the top contenders for the role opposite Ash, but Bhandarkar settled down for Arunoday to romance the blue-eyed beauty.

Talking to a daily, a source said, “Madhur wanted to finish the casting of his film ‘Heroine’ since the film was announced at Cannes sometime back. However, after much thought, Arunoday Singh has been roped in for the film. This is his biggest break till date after ‘Yeh Saali Zindagi’, ‘Aisha’ and ‘Sikandar’.”

The source further added, “The character is of an ace cricketer who is going around with this top actress. The whole casting is kept hush-hush and the inspiration is not disclosed. Now it would be interesting to know from which controversial jodi the drama is inspired, Azhar-Sangeeta, Amrita Singh-Ravi Shastri or Yuvraj-Deepika romance.”

Sources confirm that the flick is about the success story of a Bollywood actress, and there has to be some romance in it. And romance in Bollywood is incomplete without cricket. So, to add that typical Bollywood twist to the tale, Arunoday will play a cricketer in the film.

While Madhur remained unavailable for comment, Arunoday expressed his excitement on his big break opposite Aishwarya Rai, “Yes I am doing the film and I am over the moon. I can`t speak anything about the character but it feels great to be acting opposite Aishwarya Rai. But I would approach it as any other film. Having said that, Madhur is a wonderful director and I don`t need to say that.”

Arunoday further said, “I haven`t known Madhur and have met him only a couple of times. I have been a great fan of his films ‘Chandni Bar’ and ‘Page 3’. I can only say that God has been kind to me.”

Reportedly, Madhur was facing a hard time finalising the actor for his ambitious project, especially after announcing the film at the Cannes this year.

He sure must have been mighty relieved after finding the right actor he was looking for. We just hope that his ‘find’ lives up to his as well as the audiences’ expectations. Filmi Files is the best place to look for tinsel town news and gossips.