This year, John Abraham launched his production company, JA Entertainment, with the film, Vicky Donor. The sleeper hit also proved to be a great launch pad for its lead pair — Ayushmann Khurrana and Yami Gautam.

Now, John is going to give a break to another newcomer — model Rashi Khanna — in his next production, Madras Café (earlier titled Jaffna).

“Rashi has an important role in the film. It’s a two-heroine project and Nargis Fakhri is already part of it. John and director Shoojit Sircar saw a number of new faces, but they liked Rashi’s screen presence,” says an industry insider.

When contacted, John and his production partner, Sheel Kumar, confirmed Rashi’s presence in the film without getting into further details. Meanwhile, the debutante is also one of the contenders for the female lead in Shoojit’s film, Hamaara Bajaj, with Ayushmann in the lead.

When asked about Madras Café, which stars John, Shoojit denies that the plot revolves around political relations between India and Sri Lanka. About the change in the title, he simply says, “Jaffna was our working title, and as we proceeded with the script, we thought Madras Café will be more apt.”