Amitabh will play a man living in a corner of Manali whose life comes full circle when he falls in love all over again with his old flame. Vidya Balan (left) is being approached to play the leading lady while Abhishek Bachchan (below) could play the young AmitabhShoojit Sircar

Anthony Gonzalves, Vijay Chauhan, Devraj Sahay, Sexy Sam… Johnny Walker. Neither is he endorsing the alcohol brand by the same name nor is he playing the legendary comedian of the Indian screen. But come 2007, Amitabh Bachchan will be Johnny Walker.

After four months of discussions and debates, Bachchan is all set to play the title role in what would be Shoojit Sircar’s next film after his critically acclaimed directorial debut Yahaan.

Percept Picture Company, which was earlier behind Amarjeet (Shoojit’s anti-tobacco film set in Calcutta that didn’t roll), will be producing Johnny Walker.

Bachchan, who is currently in London, confirmed the development saying: “I am very excited to be a part of Johnny Walker. I feel the film has the potential to cut across global audiences. The final logistics are being worked out for the production of this film. In fact, our company AB Corp is also looking at the possibility of doing a joint venture with Percept Picture Company (PPC) for this film.”

Percept on its part confirmed the chances of AB Corp coming on board. Says Mahesh Ramanathan, chief operating officer of PPC: “The fact that AB Corp and Percept Picture Company could be partners on this just shows the true potential of the film.” Shailendra Singh, joint managing director of Percept Holdings, adds: “We truly believe that Johnny Walker is India’s first cinema offering to the global entertainment consumer. It has the required emotion and drama where language will not be a barrier.”

Johnny Walker is one of many ideas that Shoojit has been working on after Yahaan. When Amarjeet couldn’t take off due to casting problems, he started working on a thriller set in a forest and a coming-of-age love story written by Gulzar. “Those projects are still on but in an industry like Bollywood you never know which project takes off first,” says Shoojit. “When I narrated the script of Johnny Walker to Mr Bachchan, he was very excited and here we are ready to roll.”

It will not be the first time that Shoojit will be directing Bachchan, as the boy from Barrackpore has made most of the Cadbury’s commercials with him including the current on-air ad of ‘Miss Palampur’. “But making a film with him is indeed the opportunity of a lifetime,” adds Shoojit. “Bhebei bhishon bhalo lagchhe. And believe you me, the man has become so much more agile after his hospitalisation. I don’t know why others are saying he’s still unwell because I found him to be so much fitter!”

Not keen to reveal details of the story, Shoojit says: “The concept here is more important. Johnny Walker is about this love story which begins where most love stories end. It questions how far you can go for love. It is about a 60-year-old couple discovering love all over again many years after they had first fallen in love. It is a very emotional tale of relationships with the man coming full circle at the end of it all.”

While Bachchan’s leading lady has not yet been finalised, Shoojit is in talks with Vidya Balan. “She will be able to pull off both the age groups very well,” he says. “She will be herself as the young girl and then with make-up, she will be made to look like the older lady.”

For Bachchan’s young days though, Shoojit wants to cast a different actor altogether. “We will place the whole project in front of Abhishek as a separate actor and hope he likes it,” he reveals. “We do not want him to do the film just because his father is doing it or because AB Corp may come on board.”

The screenplay of Johnny Walker has been penned by Rensil D’Silva, who co-wrote Rang De Basanti with Prasoon Joshi. “Jakob Ihre, who shot Yahaan, will shoot this film too,” adds Shoojit. “It is going to be a very beautiful-looking film shot mainly in Shimla and Manali. We will also shoot in Dalhousie, Delhi and Agra.”

Johnny Walker will go on the floors in March 2007 and release later in the year.