A significant amount of hype over director Rajkumar Hirani’s next, P.K., centred around the apparent return of the 3 Idiots (2009) trio — Aamir Khan, R Madhavan and Sharman Joshi. The film turned out to be a Bollywood landmark, being the highest all-time grosser (at over R300 cr). Earlier, the three actors had worked together in another hit film — Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s Rang De Basanti (2006).
 
However, the latest news is that the trio will not be seen together in P.K., as Madhavan isn’t part of the film. “They (the filmmakers) might have thought of him for the film initially, but he is not there now,” a source close to the film unit reveals.

The speculation stemmed from the fact that both Aamir and Sharman are part of the film, as is Boman Irani (he played the oddball college principal in 3 Idiots). “Boman plays a funny character in P.K.. It’s an important role,” the source says.

However, Hirani has brought in an actor from his hit Munna Bhai series. Arshad Warsi is now all set to star in PK. “Arshad is playing an interesting role in the film. It’s meant to be an entertainer, and Arshad is the best fit for it,” says the source.

So it seems that Hirani and producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra are still sticking to actors they’ve worked with in the past.

About the present status of the film, the source says, “The shooting for the film hasn’t started yet. This will be a thorough entertainer, just like all of Raju Hirani’s films are.”
The film will apparently go on the floors early next year. “The dates are sorted and the makers will start shooting in January,” says the source.