*Ashokavanam: Mani Ratnam's mega movie<http://entertainment.oneindia.in/tamil/exclusive/2008/mani-ratnam-tamil-ashokavanam-031008.html#> *
The Tamil version of Mani Ratnam's next movie would be titled as Ashokavanam (a place located in Srilanka as per the Ramayana age). Aishwarya<http://entertainment.oneindia.in/tamil/exclusive/2008/mani-ratnam-tamil-ashokavanam-031008.html#>Bachchan will feature in the film opposite Vikram, her first time pair on screen. Ashokavanam happens to be the film of Director Mani Ratnam and the estimated budget of this film is said to be 120 crores. Sources reveal that the cast and crew of the film are taking almost 36 cores from the whole budget. Apart from the lead pair, leading actors<http://entertainment.oneindia.in/tamil/exclusive/2008/mani-ratnam-tamil-ashokavanam-031008.html#>Karthik and Prithviraj are going to play the characters of negative shade in this film.According to the sources, the director has agreed to pay Rs.5 crores, a whopping amount paid by him to any other Indian actor(s), including the superstar for his earlier appearance in Dalapathy. The Hindi version of this film is titled as Ravan in which Ash will share the screen space with her hubby Abhishek Bachchan<http://entertainment.oneindia.in/tamil/exclusive/2008/mani-ratnam-tamil-ashokavanam-031008.html#> . The Hindi version has Govinda in an interesting role and it is said that Amitabh Bachchan<http://entertainment.oneindia.in/tamil/exclusive/2008/mani-ratnam-tamil-ashokavanam-031008.html#>will also make a special appearance. This film will have Mani Ratnam as the director and Simran will be taking up the duty as an assistant director. She is planning to make her debut as a director next year and will learn some few techniques from the ace director Mani Ratnam. Suhasini the wife of Mani Ratnam will play the role of a Devi for a few seconds in this film. http://entertainment.oneindia.in/tamil/exclusive/2008/mani-ratnam-tamil-ashokavanam-031008.html -- regards, Vithur ARR in my Heart; His Music in my Blood;
