Abhishek Kapoor has often said that he cast newbies in 'Kai Po Che' because he was done chasing the stars. Things seem to have changed very quickly for the filmmaker, as his next will star Katrina Kaif as the female lead. Recently, the director approached the actress for the role and after a four-hour long meeting, Katrina gave her consent. Apparently, she has loved the script and is pretty kicked about the project. The film is an adaptation of a Charles Dickens classic- Great Expectations. He has his cousin Ekta Kapoor in the producer's seat. Set in early Victorian England, the bildungsroman that charts the journey of Pip, an orphan, was the most autobiographical novel of Dickens, apart from David Copperfield. A source said: "Abhishek was going through a lean phase after Rock On, but after the success of Kai Po Che things are looking good for him again. After all Katrina is one of the top stars."

TOI had previously reported that Abhishek wanted his protege Sushant Singh Rajput to play the protagonist--the orphan Philip Pirrip. However, there were no confirmation from Sushant's end and rumours surfaced that he might not be able to take up the project due to date issues. But at the time of going to press a friend of Sushant called up and rubbished the claims, saying, "Sushant is indeed doing the film. He is sorting out the dates for his mentor. The shooting is scheduled to start this September."