Of late, a bevy of names including Ranbir Kapoor, Imran Khan and Shahid Kapoor have been bandied around in relation to Rajkumar Hirani's muchtalked-about next, P.K. In fact, rumours were rife that Shahid and Ranbir were the only two names that were being considered to play the younger lead, alongside Aamir Khan in the Vidhu Vinod Chopra-production.

But proving reports from a couple of months ago right, TV actor Sushant Singh Rajput has now been confirmed for the part. Hirani also confirms the news, putting all rumours to rest. "Yes, that's true. He (Sushant) is doing the film."

Earlier, Ranveer Singh's name also came up in connection with the part, but when we contacted him, he denied that he was even approached for the role. While Aamir Khan and Anushka Sharma have already signed the bigticket venture, speculations have been rife for a long time about who would play the parallel lead in it.

"Sushant was always confirmed to do the role. We don't know how and why the other names cropped up. But Sushant has always been in touch with Raju sir about the film. In fact, in a few days' time, he will start preparations for the part," says an industry insider.

For the uninitiated, Sushant is famous for playing Manav Deshmukh on Zee TV's hit serial Pavitra Rishta. At the same time, he has also been signed for Yash Raj Films' next co-starring Parineeti Chopra. "He is over the moon with the fact that he already has a handful of biggies lined up in Bollywood," adds the insider. Sushant is currently busy wrapping up Abhishek Kapoor's Kai Po Che, in which he is playing the lead.