Aishwarya Rai to join all-star cast for Pink Panther 2

Heavyweight actors Alfred Molina, Andy Garcia, Aishwarya Rai and John Cleese have been inked for working title "The Pink Panther 2" to shoot in Boston.

Cleese and company will appear with Steve Martin in the sequel to the first Pink Panther, for a 2009 release date.

Not everyone is pleased that the venerable actors are stooping to the pedestrian material.

Russ Fischer of CHUD.com writes: "Sullying their good name along with Cleese will be Andy Garcia, Alfred Molina and Aishwarya Rai, with second appearances by Jean 'Soulless' Reno and Emily Mortimer. For Bollywood veteran Rai, I guess this could conceivably seem like a good move."

Variety reports "The Pink Panther 2" will be directed by Harald Zwart from a screenplay by Scott Neustadter, Mike Weber, Lowell Ganz, Babaloo Mandel and Steve Martin.

Aishwarya's role as a detective assisting the bumbling French police detective Jacques Clouseau, played by Steve Martin, in MGM's The Pink Panther 2 was earlier rejected by Celina Jaitley.

"Celina didn't want to sign the film because she hardly had any role in it," as source close to the actress tells TOI.

Celina herself refuses to comment.

So far Aishwarya has played lead roles in all her appearance outside Bollywood - Bride & Prejudice (2004), The Mistress of Spices (2005) and Provoked: A True Story (2006).

However, it is possible that she agreed to do a minor role in The Pink Panther 2 because the film features A-list actors and is targeted at a world wide, rather than a select, audience.

Her motivation to do a minor role in The Last Legion, which features Hollywood stars Colin Firth and Ben Kingsley, may have been similar.

It is also possible, if not likely, that Aishwarya’s role in the film has been enhanced to go with her standing and stature in the industry.

Celina, meanwhile, has just wrapped up filming for Love Has No Language, her first foray out of Bollywood, at locations in New Zealand.

In the film directed by Ken Khan, Celina, who is paired opposite Australian actor Ben Mitchell, plays the role of an Indian girl, Marina Roy, who has lived her entire life in New Zealand with her conservative parents.

The story revolves around the difference in ideologies between Marina and her parents.

Having played a lead role in a major international venture there is no looking back for Celina who is currently eyeing other Hollywood offers.