Now that she has her best buddy SRK on board, Farah Khan seems determined to cast her net wider. The latest being she has signed John Abraham as one of the male leads in her ambitious next Happy New Year that also stars Abhishek Bachchan and Boman Irani.

While John remained unavailable for comment, his friend told us, "Farah wanted someone with a very cool body language for the fourth male lead. She had been toying with the idea of casting John for a long time. The deal was sealed a few days before John flew off to Turkey to shoot for Race 2."

As for John, "He is very happy he will be working with Shah Rukh for the first time. And he is excited he will share screen space with Abhishek, with whom he enjoyed great camaraderie during the making of Dostana and has been good friends with ever since," said the actor's friend.

Shah Rukh for his part is very comfortable with Farah's decision to bring both Abhishek and John on board, revealed an insider. SRK and Abhishek had last worked together in Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna in 2006. Their friendship soured after Abhishek married Aishwarya, whom SRK had dropped from his home production Chalte Chalte in 2002-03.

So much so Shah Rukh's name went missing from the guest list at the Abhi-Ash wedding in 2007. It was only at photographer Dabboo Ratnani's calendar launch party in January this year that the duo patched up. Happy New Year is expected to roll by end this year. No leading lady has been finalised yet.