According to the latest buzz, John Mathew Mathan's latest film will star Vivek Oberoi, not Aamir Khan.

Khan, who had starred in the director's debut film Sarfarosh (also starring Naseeruddin Shah and Sonali Bendre), was expected to be repeated in the next one. But though Mathan approached Khan, the actor did not commit himself.

Mathan even waited for Khan, who was busy with his Oscar-nominated home production Lagaan at the time. When nothing materialised, he got tired of waiting and roped in Oberoi.

Mahima joins the bandwagon

After Aishwarya Rai, Vivek Oberoi, Salman Khan and Shilpa Shetty, it's Mahima Chaudhry's turn to go West.

The actress has landed a Spanish-Hindi bilingual film, Coffee, to be directed by Prem Soni and produced by Mehmood Anwar Ali (who also produced Khuddar, starring Amitabh Bachchan, Parveen Babi and the late Vinod Mehra). The story revolves around a woman who runs a coffee shop in Spain and is on the lines of the film Chocolat starring Juliette Binoche. It is expected to be complete by July.

The male lead was offered to Jimmy Shergill, but he missed the opportunity by quoting a huge fee.

Sanjay Dutt to sing again

Sanjay Dutt has two songs to his credit -- Ae Shivani in Sanjay Chhel's Khoobsurat and Collar ko zara in Sanjay Gupta's Kaante.

Now, he will grab the microphone a third time in his home production, Hriday Shetty's Plan (also starring Dino Morea, Sanjay Suri, Bikram Saluja, Rohit Roy, Priyanka Chopra and Payal Rohatgi).

Hubby casts Mandira

Raj Kaushal, whose directorial debut Pyar Mein Kabhi Kabhi (starring Dino Morea, Rinke Khanna and Sanjay Suri) flopped, has decided to cash in on wife Mandira Bedi's rise in fame, thanks to her cricket commentary during this year's World Cup.

She will play the main lead. The rest of the cast is yet to be announced.

Currently holidaying with Manisha Koirala in France, Deepti Naval has big plans for when she returns. She plans to direct a film.

It may be recalled that earlier Naval had announced that she would direct a film on the painter Amrita Shergill. "But I gave it up," she explains, "because Kumar Shahani announced a film on her."

Naval was last seen in V K Prakash's Freaky Chakra.

Priyanka in Nikhalje's team

Former Miss World Priyanka Chopra has bagged the next, as-yet-untitled film of Deepak Nikhalje (producer of Vaastav, which starred Sanjay Dutt and Namrata Shirodkar, and brother of gangster Rajendra Nikhalje aka Chhota Rajan).

The film will be directed by Sangeet Sivan's assistant Samit Badkar. The rest of the cast has not been finalised yet.

Leena longs for the arclights

Yesteryear star and the widow of legendary singer Kishore Kumar, Leena Chandavarkar (Ek Mahal Ho Sapno Ka, Qaid, Humjoli, Manchali), wants to plunge into acting again.

Recently, she was seen talking to Rajkumar Santoshi (who is directing Khakee) and Sanjay Leela Bhansali (who is finalising the cast of Bajirao Mastani). Whether the directors add her to their respective films remains to be seen.

Jaya Prada has dropped the idea of making a Telugu remake of Madhur Bhandarkar's Satta (starring Raveena Tandon and Atul Kulkarni).

Not so long ago, the actress and former Rajya Sabha member had acquired the remake rights for the film, after seeing its preview and counting on the director's last film success -- the critically acclaimed Tabu-starrer Chandni Bar. She had obviously not expected Satta to sink like a stone at the box office.

Hrithik, Nandana on a Hero

Hrithik Roshan has once again endorsed the Hero Honda brand of motorbikes. But this time, there is no Saurav Ganguly (remember the 'Desh ki dhadkan' ad?) with him.

Instead, there is Nandana Sen (daughter of Nobel Prize-winner Amartya Sen). The commercial has been shot against the backdrop of an airport.