Mani Ratnam's Ash-Abhi film is not based on Ramayana

Contrary to reports, Mani Ratnam's much-talked about film "Ravan", starring Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai, is not based on the epic "Ramayana", said a source.

"The film has nothing to do with the epic 'Ramayana'. It's an urban story," the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Ratnam is trying to keep the story under wraps and is taking precautions while shooting. First he shot the film in the jungles of Kochi and now he is stationed in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh.

Bollywood biggies' look revealed

It's known that Director Mani Ratnam is maintaining tight security on the sets of his upcoming film RAVANA and also lots of secrecy so as to not reveal the star cast - Aishwarya Rai & Abhishek Bachchan's look in the film.

It seems like now our longtime inquisitiveness about the look of the star cast in RAVANA is fulfilled. Recently Abhishek was spotted along with wife Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in his new short hair look at one of the events.

It is being said that this could be Abhishek's look in the film.

Seems like short hair is the new demand of the tinsel fashion. A few days back even Shah Rukh was seen sporting shorthair look which as per the reports Shah Rukh will be seen sporting in Kjo's upcoming MY NAME IS KHAN.

Also, the cutest hunk of Bollywood, Shahid Kapoor, who has been keeping away from the media glare and maintaining a relatively low profile for quite sometime now, is sported in a very trendy new hairdo. Recently, he made an appearance in one of the events with his new look and it is being held that this could be his much touted look in the film KAMINAY.

Abhishek’s Ravana

Abhishek and Aishwarya are in the beautiful jungles of Kochi shooting for Mani Ratnam’s tentatively titled Ravana . For the audience who loved the duo in Guru and longed to have an eyeful of them yet again, romancing each other, here’s a little disappointment.

Unlike what many would have thought and wished for, Abhi will not play Ram but, the character of Ravana. Aishwarya is slated to portray the role of Sita and playing Ram to her will be Vikram, a popular actor from down South. The Ram-Sita-Ravana story will be incomplete without Hanuman and to play the bit, Ratnam has roped in Govinda.

When we asked Abhishek about how he is gearing up for the role he said, “It’s a joke between Mani and me. He got me to put on weight for Guru and now he wants me to lose it for Ravana.”

But there is something more than just the weight training and harsh diets that has made the shooting quite tough. We hear that Abhi has hurt himself and the area from the knee to the base of his shin has been bruised.

To make matters worse, as he is shooting in the jungles, he has to wear trousers, unlike the comfort of wearing shorts while shooting for Dostana . Being into a trouser all day is further abrading the skin. But then, Abhi has loving wife Ash by his side so we are sure things will be ok for him soon.

Abhi has also gone real short with his hair this time. In fact, it is the shortest hair cut he has sported ever on screen and off it, almost like a crew cut.

With Ratnam behind the lens and actors like Abhi, Ash, Vikram and Govinda playing the mythological characters one wonders what is the story of Ravana that Mani Ratnam wants to tell us?