‘Maqbool’ director Vishal Bharadwaj on Monday confirmed that Bollywood star Aamir Khan will not act in his next venture ‘Mr Mehta and Mrs Singh’.

“Aamir will not be acting in Mr Mehta and Ms Singh” the filmmaker said but refused to divulge any details. He is presently in Goa at IFFI for the premiere of his movie ‘The Blue Umbrella‘ (a celluloid adaptation of a Ruskin Bond story). The film stars Pankaj Kapur in the lead.

Bharadwaj brushed aside the rumors that his ambitious project had been shelved, “The film will certainly go on the floors in the latter half of 2006 after I finish work on my next film which is based on Shakespeare’s ‘Othello‘,” Bharadwaj said.

The director had earlier cast actress Kareena Kapoor opposite Aamir in this UTV-funded project that traces the lives of two individuals over a period of thirty years.

Incidentally Aamir’s another UTV project ‘Rang De Basanti’ directed by Rakesh Mehra is releasing on January 20, 2006.