Sanjay Dutt To feature On Abh-ash starrer

Sanjay Dutt will replace South superstar Vikram in Mani Ratnam's Next, which features star couple Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

The film, based on real life characters, is an intense love story, a genre that Mani has not dabbled with in the past. Interestingly, the film pairs Sanjay Dutt and Aishwarya, not Abhishek and Aishwarya, as is widely assumed.

Vikram earlier played lead in Aparichit (2005), the Hindi version of of south film Anniyan (2005).

The sudden change, industry insiders claim, was dictated by the less than stellar showing of Abhishek - Aishwarya starrer Sarkar Raj at the box office.

An industry source told us, "The Ram Gopal Varma film was the couple's first together following their marriage, and much was expected out of it. Despite good performances by them, box office returns from the film haven't been encouraging. Vikram is very popular down South but is virtually unknown to the Northern audience. Worried about the fate of his film, Mani has decided to cast Sanjay Dutt, a much more saleable name than Vikram, to enhance his film's prospects."

A close pal of the Munna Bhai… star confirmed the new development to us, "Despite his packed date dairy, Baba (Dutt) immediately gave his nod without even going through a detailed script narration from Mani Ratnam. It was a pleasant surprise for him to be approached by the acclaimed director. The film is due to start soon and he is looking forward to working with Mani and Abhi-Aish."

This will be the third time Sanjay Dutt and Aishwarya are paired, after David Dhawan's comedy Hum Kissi Se Kum Nahi (2002), which ended with Ajay Devgan winning Aishwarya; and Leena Yadav's Shabd (2005).

National Award winning actor, Vikram's film Sethu was remade in Hindi as Tere Naam (2003) with Salman Khan essaying the role that Vikram played in the original.