No Mads, Ranbir romance!

Had it been true, it would have been a kind of casting coup Bollywood hasn’t seen in a while.

In the past week or so, reports of Ranbir Kapoor and his childhood heart-throb Madhuri Dixit Nene being approached for Prakash Jha’s next, Draupadi, have been been doing the rounds.

The reports have even reached Madhuri, who’s presently in the US. She called her manager Riku in Mumbai, who, in turn, called Prakash to clarify the reports. The director has been flooded with many such calls ever since. “It’s absurd. Logon ka kuch kaam nahin, toh they start cooking up these stories. Everyone’s talking about it. But I have no idea who spread these rumours,” says Prakash, adding, “Ranbir must be running for cover.”

The film was rumoured to be a May-December love story, with Ranbir playing a young man besotted with a much older Madhuri. Reports also suggested that the script, which was sent to Mads in the US, challenged her and she was excited about it. Is Prakash planning any such project in the future? “No. I take up one project at a time, aur ek project ko banane mein paanch saal lag jaate hain. Currently, I’m trying to wrap up Rajneeti,” he says.