Vickey Lalwani

Rani in 1857 - The Uprising

Ketan Mehta's wife Deepa Sahay confirms the director has finalised Rani Mukherji to act in his pre-Independence drama 1857 - The Uprising and is considering Aishwarya Rai for one of the roles.

A foreign actress is expected to fill the third slot. The three-heroine project has Aamir Khan playing freedom fighter Mangal Pandey.

Parmeet replaces Parvin

After playing the mean Kuljeet in Aditya Chopra's Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Parmeet Sethi made insignificant appearances in Dharmesh Darshan's Dhadkan and Anupam Kher's Om Jai Jagadish.

The actor has now replaced Parvin Dabas in Avi Nesher's Mondo Moderno (Modern World).

Dabas refused to go to Israel (on location) because of the US-Iraq war.

"I don't think I should let such a prestigious project slip from my hands," Sethi says. "War or no war, I'm going."

Parmeet leaves for Israel today.

Amrita needs luck

Amrita Arora has her fingers crossed. A cold debut (Kitne Door Kitne Paas) and a brief role (Awaara Pagal Deewana) later, she will be seen in David Dhawan's Ek Aur Ek Gyarah costarring Sanjay Dutt, Govinda, Jackie Shroff and Nandini Singh.

The film hits the marquee on March 28.

Other assignments in Arora's kitty include Jagan Puri's Sharth with Tusshar Kapoor and Tanuja Chandra's untitled venture opposite Rahul Khanna.

Chandra's film is a satire on filmmaking process. It will be a start-to-finish schedule shot almost entirely in Australia.