Not approached Sonakshi, Parineeti for `Happy New Year`: Farah Khan

Mumbai: Farah Khan`s re-union with Shahrukh Khan has put the long impending project ‘Happy New Year’ on track but the choreographer-turned-director insists that they have not yet decided on the leading lady. The 47-year-old choreographer-filmmaker said she had planned ‘Happy New Year’ (HNY) even before her directorial debut ‘Main Hoon Na’ and was preparing to HNY immediately after ‘Om Shanti Om’. "We are not in talks with Sonakshi and Parineeti. We have not approached any one of them yet. I do meet Sonakshi regularly, she is beautiful and lovely. But we have not yet taken a call. "Shahrukh has just come back from London so we need to sit and work out figure out as to who is right for that role. It is a big role and then there is only one heroine in the film," Farah told PTI in an interview. Cracks began to appear between the friendship of Farah and Shahrukh, when the latter refused to feature in ‘Tees Maar Khan’, which was directed by Farah`s husband Shirish Kunder. Shirish was allegedly beaten up by SRK at a private party hosted by actor Sanjay Dutt in January for taking a dig at ‘Ra.One’. Post patch up, Farah and Shahrukh decided to start work on HNY. So far, Shahrukh Khan has been confirmed for the male lead and the other actors including John Abraham and Abhishek Bachchan are expected to play pivotal roles in the film. "We were going to take John that time. But we have not yet met him now. Things just keep coming in newspapers but we have not met anyone of them yet." Farah says she is extremely excited about this film as she will be back again with SRK after two blockbusters – ‘Main Hoon Na’ and ‘Om Shanti Om’. "I am very excited. We are hoping to create the magic that we did with our earlier films. We have Shahrukh and Boman Irani in the film and the other cast is not finalised yet. I can`t talk much about the project," Farah said. "There are like four heroes and one heroine. Boman is there in the film. We have Shahrukh, Boman and two more heroes. Boman is a full hero now (referring to `Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi` where he is playing the lead)," she added. The shooting for ‘Happy New Year’ will begin from December and then next schedule in January. Meanwhile, Farah is all charged up for her debut film as an actor? ‘Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi’, where she is paired opposite Boman Irani. "I am happy that I did `Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi`. Its a good thing as when you get an opportunity to do something new and different in life one should do it," she said. Directed by filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali`s sister Bela Sehgal `SFKTNP` is the story of a 40-plus unmarried man and a woman. "If somebody is making a film where the hero and heroine are 40 plus and it is a romantic comedy, is a great thing to do. For a 47-year-old mother of three, married, making a debut as a lead heroine is a big thing. Looking at this it feels that Indian cinema is changing. I think everyone should be proud of this thing," she said. The film, co-produced by Sanjay Bhansali, will release on August 24. PTI