Anushkha confirmed for Yash Chopra’s next

Yash Chopra, who will wield the director’s baton once again after seven years, has confirmed the final star cast of his return to celluloid.

 

Naturally, Shah Rukh Khan is a given, who will star opposite Katrina Kaif for the very first time. But the surprise inclusion is Anushka Sharma, who made her debut in son Aditya Chopra’s film, “Rab Ne Bana De Jodi” back in 2009.

 

Well, maybe it isn’t a surprise considering the actress has just walked away with the Best Actress trophy at the recently concluded International Indian Film Academy Awards this weekend for the Yashraj film, “Band Baaja Baarat”.

 

In a statement, the Chopra patriarch said: “Everyone knows that when I make a movie, Shah Rukh will be involved with it. He is like family to YRF and I have always regarded him as one of my own.”

 

The as yet untitled movie will also mark the coming together of the awardwinning duo of the music maestro AR Rahman and the poet and lyricist, Gulzar.

 

Chopra added: “It’s been seven years since I directed “Veer-Zaara” and as I begin work on my new film I hear my inner voice asking me a lot of questions.

 

“Are you sure you want to direct again, you are nearly 80 years old and the audience is getting younger day by day. Can I really speak from my heart and still expect today's youth to listen to me?

 

“Will I be able to live up to the blind faith that Shahrukh Khan has in me and give him yet another memorable romantic film? Will I be able to present the beautiful Katrina Kaif and the very talented Anushka Sharma in a way they have never been seen before?

 

“Will I be able to inspire Rahman and Gulzar Bhai enough to create their best work yet?”

 

Said a nervous Chopra: “The honest answer is, I don’t know. All I know is that I’m making a film that I believe in, a film that is about love and nothing else; a film that has an old soul but a young heart; a film that is classic in its look but contemporary in its language; a film, which I’m making on one simple faith: the love that my audiences have given to me over the years.

 

“They have tolerated my indulgences for the past 50 years, I’m sure they will indulge me one more time.”

 

The film is scheduled for a Diwali 2012 release.