Is Lara Dutta pregnant? Reports suggest that the Bollywood star who married her tennis ace-beau Mahesh Bhupathi in February this year is already in the family way. The speculations of Lara's pregnancy have hit the world just after Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan broke the big news of expecting her first child in November. Mandira Bedi and Konkona Sen Sharma were blessed with their first-borns recently and there has been a considerable buzz over Shilpa Shetty's frequent visit to a gynaecologist in Bandra recently. "Lara and Mahesh prefer to take things as they come. They are both quite occupied with work in their respective areas, but at the same time they feel the time is ripe for them to have a child," a friend of the couple said.

Lara has just finished shooting for Farhan Akhtar's Don 2, starring Shah Rukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra. She, along with Mahesh, also released the couple's first production Chalo Dilli, recently. The film - in which Lara shared the screen space with Vinay Pathak - was a rip- off of the Hollywood hit Planes, Trains And Automobiles. Chalo Dilli had a decent run at the box-office.

Lara had been busy wrapping up Don 2 and also handling the prerelease publicity for Chalo Dilli after her February 16-marriage. Now, she has free time to focus on family matters, according to sources. Incidentally, Lara did not sign any new film after Don 2. Her only film in hand is the long- stuck Govinda-starrer Banda Yeh Bindaas Hai, but Lara has already finished shooting her portions for the film.

Sources said Lara and Mahesh consider it inauspicious to reveal the good news to the world at such an early stage, and will wait for at least three months before they make the news official. "As of now, even if the pregnancy is confirmed, they would want to stay silent on the issue. Lara and Mahesh feel they should make the news public only when the time is correct," the source said. She had also been to her parents' to take rest, giving way to the speculations of her pregnancy.

Lara was about to announce her next production after Chalo Dilli soon, but those plans are now stalled as she is pregnant, according to a source. Incidentally, Lara was supposed to launch her second film as producer soon after Chalo Dilli released in April, but she did not go about it then. The ex-Miss Universe has been a struggling actress for quite some time in Bollywood. Her fellow actress and also Miss World in the same year as her, Priyanka Chopra, has waded her way gracefully to the top in the industry. However, Lara has chances of coming back to the limelight after starring in Bollywood-biggie Don 2. But, how much the pregnancy rumours would help her in getting the lead roles in Btown remains questionable.