Aishwarya Rai Bachchan keen to work with Sanjay Leela Bhansali; denies refusing his film

There have been rumours of a rift between Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and her mentor and director Sanjay Leela Bhansali after reports stated that the actress had refused a film to sign Anurag Kashyap's film Gulab Jamun with her husband Abhishek Bachchan. The Fanney Khan actress' team has now denied the rumours.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has said that she has "immense love" for Sanjay Leela Bhansali and is "keen to work with him".

BollywoodHungama had reported a source as saying that Aishwarya Rai Bachchan preferred to do director Anurag Kashyap's Gulab Jamun over SLB's new film.

"The choice was very clear. Aishwarya had to choose between working with Bhansali again and sharing screen space with her husband Abhishek in Anurag Kashyap's film, as the dates for both films clashed. Aishwarya chose to do the film with her husband. They haven't worked together for eight years. But more importantly, both Abhishek and she have fabulous roles in Gulab Jamun. They play characters they've never played before."

Here's what Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's agency Imagesmiths said about the rumour, "This is totally baseless and untrue. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has immense love for Sanjay Leela Bhansali and will always be very keen to work with him and he knows that."

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was last seen in Fanney Khan (2018) alongside Rajkummar Rao and Anil Kapoor. Many filmmakers have approached her to do a film with husband Abhishek Bachchan, including adman Prahlad Kakkar.

Finally, after Abhishek Bachchan starred in Anurag Kashyap's film Manmarziyaan, the film Gulab Jamun was offered to Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and they have signed on the dotted line.

As for Sanjay Leela Bhansali, we are waiting for him to make another film with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who has made beautiful films like Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Devdas and Guzaarish with him.

Before her marriage to Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai had refused to star in Bhansali's dream film Bajirao Mastani (as Mastani) because he wanted to cast her ex-boyfriend Salman Khan as Bajirao. SLB also wanted her to star in Padmaavat but couldn't find the right Alauddin Khilji to play against her, according to reports. Both roles went to actress Deepika Padukone.

We hope SLB casts Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in a fresh historical or love story!