Aishwarya Rai out of 'The Rising'

Aishwarya Rai out of 'The Rising'

BOMBAY: Former Miss World Aishwarya Rai has bowed out of the Bollywood colonial-era epic The Rising, which won worldwide publicity this month when Prince Charles set the camera rolling, the producer said.

Rai has been replaced by another top Bollywood star, Amisha Patel, who will play the female lead opposite Aamir Khan for the film about the 1857 uprising against British rule in India, producer Bobby Bedi told AFP.

"She (Rai) wanted to renegotiate the contract with us after signing the deal. This was not acceptable and therefore we broke the deal Thursday," Bedi said.

He said shooting will go ahead Jan. 6 near Pune, around 150 kilometers (90 miles) southeast of Bombay.

Prince Charles on Nov. 4 spent 20 minutes on the set of The Rising, snapping shut a clapperboard that symbolically set the camera rolling.--AFP