A rumour recently swept through tinsel town that Aishwarya Rai, presently busy with her motherly duties towards the five-month-old daughter, will return to films with pa-in-law Amitabh Bachchan in Sarkar 3 by Ram Gopal Varma. Now, scotching the rumour is Ramu himself. The filmmaker confirmed on Twitter that Sarkar 3 is very much in the works, but Aishwarya Rai won’t be a part of it.

“Sarkar 3 is being planned..Amitji nd Abhishek wil feature in it bt contrary 2 reprts Aishwarya won't be..script is still under progress,” Ram Gopal Varma tweeted. Ramu’s revelation gets us thinking, though. How could Abhishek Bachchan, who was bumped off in Sarkar Raj, make a return in the third film of the franchise, and Aishwarya Rai, who was shown getting more involved in the shady workings of Sarkar (Big B) be left out?

Two probabilities could be: one, Abhishek Bachchan returns as the grandson of Sarkar, in which case Big B’s character will have to be shown very aged; two, Ramu has perhaps come up with the idea of a prequel, a story that goes back instead of forward. Whatever the case may be, it’s clear now Sarkar 3 won’t mark the return of Aishwarya Rai to films, even though Abhishek and Amitabh are a part of it.