Shahid Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan to star in Vishal Bhardwaj's next

Saif Ali Khan and Shahid Kapoor in a film together? Who'd have thought? Not Kareena Kapoor for sure. In a casting coup of sorts, it's this two-hero project that Vishal Bhardwaj has put high on his list of priorities, putting his remake of The Departed, starring Hrithik Roshan and his biopic on Fearless Nadia (starring Kangana Ranaut) on the backburner for now.

Hrithik's dates are blocked for Mohenjo Daro and YRF's next action flick. Nadia also can't start now as Kangana has a series of films waiting to go on floors. That's why Vishal decided to finish the Saif-Shahid starrer first.

Shahid has wrapped up work on his immediate next, Shandaar, and has already started shooting for Abhishek Chaubey's Udta Punjab, which will be followed by the Magadheera remake, after which he begins Vishal's film. This also means that the Kaminey sequel is not on the cards for now.

Shahid will finish his present commitments by the year-end, before he gets married in December. Vishal wants to start his film around early 2016, only after the actor is free. Meanwhile, Saif, too, will be done with Sujoy Ghosh's Bollywood adaptation of the Japanese thriller The Devotion of Suspect X.

And while there is some noise about the the film being an adaptation of Shakespeare's King Lear, our khabroo has a different story to tell. "It's not an adaptation of any film. Rather, it is an intense love story."

HIGHLIGHT
Vishal has put his Hrithik Roshan remake of Departed and his biopic Nadia with Kangana on the backburner for now