For a very long time, whenever Tamil superstar Rajinikanth launched a new film in Tamil, there were always rumors that he was trying hard to bring in either Aishwarya Rai or Rani Mukherjee (priority was for the former) as his heroine. But the rumors were always proved baseless.

This time around, attention has shifted to the 'Om Shanti Om' heroine, Deepika Padukone. And, this time it isn't Rajinikanth, but the director of his new film who is very keen on bringing her as the heroine.

'Shivaji' had become a huge hit at the box office thanks to Rajinikanth's flambouyant performance. Soon after completing it, director Shankar spoke to Shahrukh Khan about his new project, 'Robot'. Some say that Shahrukh had rejected the script. Others say that the film was dropped due to practical difficulties. But, the director, it seems, has convinced Rajinikanth to star in the film!!!

Rajinikanth intends to complete another film before returning to Shankar film.

This time around, it is Shankar who is very particular about bringing in Deepika Padukone as the heroine of the film.

It looks as if this time, Shankar wouldn't be able to maintain high-level secrecy about the film's story though, because King Khan had already revealed the film's one-liner in one of his interviews to the Bollywood media.