Aishwarya Rai

According to Aishwarya Rai’s international agent Simone Sheffield, she was the first and only choice to play Sophie in the Hollywood film Pink Panther 2.

In fact, the casting director Ilene Starger too endorses this fact, denying claims that Shilpa Shetty or Celina Jaitley turned down the project.

Says Sheffield , “Negotiations went on for a month to secure Aishwarya and her dates for Pink Panther 2.”

Last week, Ash was in Paris shooting for the film alongside Steve Martin (who reprises his role as Inspector Jacques Clouseau) and Andy Garcia (Vincente).

Following the Paris schedule, Ash has returned to Mumbai to complete Ashutosh Gowariker’s Jodha Akbar and Ram Gopal Varma’s Sarkar Raj.

She will resume filming for Pink Panther 2 in Boston next month.