Shekhar Kapoor to start his next film, Paani

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The death of the 28-year old Australian superstar Heath Ledger has had severe repercussions on the entertainment industry, particularly on Shekhar Kapoor who was apparently the last person to speak to Heath before the actor's tragically premature death. "That's what I gather. I believe I'm the last person Heath spoke to that night before his death. And the press in New York got to know of this. The press out there started to hound me. My phone wouldn't stop ringing in New York. I had to cut short my visit and return to Mumbai," said Shekhar on Monday morning, hours after he landed up.

Remembering his short-lived association with Heath Ledger, Shekhar recalled, "Heath wasn't just the star of my film Four Feathers. He was a lot more. He was a very dear friend. We connected regularly and shared our problems. In fact, on the evening before he died we were supposed to meet. But he expressed an inability to meet and suggested we fix up another time the next morning. But in the morning he was gone! Such is life!" sighs the filmmaker just back in Mumbai and getting ready to direct his new film, this time set in Shekhar's favourite city, Mumbai.

The futuristic look at Mumbai entitled Paani will probably be the most expensive film Shekhar will produce. "It'd require a creation of a whole city with two levels, one for the super-rich and the other for the underprivileged." The cast is now being seriously looked at. Shekhar is most probably collaborating with UTV for this venture.

His other sleeper project Time Machine will now be directed by Rakeysh Mehra. The buzz is that Ranbir Kapoor will be playing the young lead that was once offered to Aamir Khan. "Nothing has been confirmed yet. I'll let you know as soon as things fall into place", promises Shekhar.

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We know ARR is the MD for Paani, but for Time Machine?