Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s new film Fanney Khan has had its fair share of headlines already – the movie has been trending on and off for reports suggesting probable actors to have been cast opposite the 43-year-old actress. Actor R Madhavan was the most prominent name which repeatedly featured in reports about Fanney Khan’s casting. Speculation followed that Madhavan was not really Aishwarya’s preferred co-star for the movie – it was Rajkummar Rao. Now, the producer of Fanney Khan – Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra – tweeted to welcome Rajkummar on board for the movie. “Welcome aboard Raj, tighten your seat belt for the roller coaster,” is what Mr Mehra tweeted on Wednesday.

In a recent interview with Mumbai Mirror, the Trapped actor has also revealed he’s been roped in for the much talked-about role in Fanney Khan. Rajkummar Rao is currently busy shooting for Hansal Mehta’s series Bose in Poland.

In his interview, Rajkummar said that he was being considered for the role for a while and received a confirmation from producer Prernaa Arora of KriArj Entertainment on Tuesday night, stated the Mumbai Mirror report. “We’re friends and have been discussing films for a while,” said the actor. Rajkummar Rao features in the recently released Bareilly Ki Barfi, co-starring Kriti Sanon and Ayushmann Khurrana.

Earlier this month, much was being speculated about Aishwarya not being too pleased with the makers for having reportedly chosen Madhavan over Rajkummar. But Mr Mehra dismissed such speculation telling news agency IANS, “It is quite unfortunate that such false and baseless stories are created to grab attention. There is zero truth to that, we are all a team and Fanney Khan is a dear project to the whole team.”

Arjun N Kapoor, the co-producer of the film also added: “There are some stories doing the rounds about disagreement in casting for the film. We want to put the record straight and deny any such so called competition or discord amongst the makers.” Fanney Khan is being considered to be a remake of the Dutch film Everybody’s Famous and will mark Atul Manjrekar’s debut as a director.

In the Mumbai Mirror interview, Rajkummar was asked about his co-star, the former beauty queen, when he said: “She’s the most beautiful woman in the world,” reported Mumbai Mirror. The actor also added the “detailed and different” story-line of Fanney Khan will keep him busy with script reading sessions once he’s back in Mumbai. “It’s a great story, there’s a lot of love, and the content is not just entertaining but is detailed and different. There will be lots of workshops and readings once I am back,” he informed. Will we hear him croon on screen? “I can’t reveal much about the character,” Rajkummar said.

Fanney Khan also stars Anil Kapoor as the father of a 16-year-old ambitious daughter and body-shaming is one of the issues that the movie tackles. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was last seen in Karan Johar’s Ae Dil Hai Mushkil while Bareilly Ki Barfi remains Rajkummar’s last film.