Aishwarya Rai may not be doing 'Heroine' any more but that hasn’t closed all options for Madhur Bhandarkar and UTV. They must just have other alternatives round the corner with other big names like Priyanka Chopra, Karisma Kapoor and Rani Mukherjee being thrown around.

Priyanka was the next obvious choice but she has already denied being approached for the film. Given her earlier association with Madhur in 'Fashion', she would have been just the right candidate. But currently there are other big names like Karisma and Rani popping up. Hottest of them all is of course Karisma as she has already announced her big screen comeback with Vikram Bhatt's 'Dangerous Ishq'.

Says a film enthusiast, "I would want to see Karisma come back with 'Heroine'. After all she is the most experienced of all. If she wouldn't have retired, no one other than her, not even Aishwarya could have performed the role better. She belongs to the first family of Bollywood, the Kapoors, and unlike Aishwarya or other established heroines, she understands the industry best."

Meanwhile there are also whispers around Rani Mukherjee being a possible candidate as well. "She may not be as charismatic as the rest but senior actresses’ mein aur choice bhi kahan hain. Preity Zinta is just not happening while someone like Urmila Matondkar was never so successful to deserve a title role like this," says an industry veteran.

Given the fact that Aishwarya won't be returning for at least a year and a half, Kareena unavailable for next one year and audience rooting for the film to be made, Madhur may just be left with the choice of choosing between Priyanka, Karisma and Rani.