Aishwarya Rai Bachchan to Make Silver Screen Comeback With Mani Ratnam’s 'Rebecca'?

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan made her acting debut in Mani Ratnam's Tamil political drama film "Iruvar" in 1997, and after a year-long break the actress is planning to make a comeback in a new Ratnam-directed film.

The former Miss World, who took break from films because of her pregnancy last year, is yet to give her approval for many projects but is likely to confirm Ratnam's adaptation of Daphne Du Maurier's 1938 novel "Rebecca".

"Ash and Ratnam go back a long way. Her cinematic debut, Iruvar in 1997 was directed by him. They worked again ten years later in Guru. The same year she got married. They again worked in 2010 in Raavan. Whenever Ratnam has offered Ash a role or a script she has always respected it. This time too, it was the same," The Times of India quoted an insider as saying.

"Rebecca, the novel is about a newly married woman who is constantly compared to the first wife of her husband by the housekeeper. While she feels belittled by the shadow of the deceased lady of the house, she later realises that her husband was never in love earlier. Ratnam is currently adapting the entire novel into a more contemporary Indian setup," the insider added.

Daphne du Maurier's novel "Rebecca" published in 1938, is the story of a woman named Mrs de Winter who marries a wealthy widower, Maximilian (Maxim) de Winter. Mrs de Winter is continually compared to her husband's first wife by the housekeeper, Mrs Danvers, who was completely devoted to the first Mrs de Winter - Rebecca.

Aishwarya has worked with Ratnam in three films including "Iruvar" (1997), "Guru" (2007) and "Raavan" (2010). While, "Iruvar" and "Guru" were box office hits, "Raavan" turned out to be a big flop.

The shooting of the film is scheduled to start next year and it is expected to hit the theatres in 2014.