Debutante director Shaad Ali has pencilled in Shah Rukh Khan to do a guest appearance in the Hindi remake of Tamil super hit Alai Payuthey that had R. Madhavan in the lead. Saathiya has Vivek Oberoi playing a middle class man whose wife Rani Mukherjee suddenly vanishes.

Attempts to hunt her down draw blank as there are no clues of her whereabouts. Saathiya required a brief but an important role of a man who pretends to be her husband after her near fatal accident. And the obvious choice was Shah Rukh Khan. Insiders insisted that it was only Shah Rukh Khan`s presence that complemented Vivek Oberoi`s new- found stardom. And perhaps the superstar agreed only because Mani Ratnam and Yash Chopra are the co-producers of Saathiya. It was during the shooting of this particular film that Gurpreet Brar got close to Rani Mukherjee.

"Rani is the only friend I have in the industry," Gurpreet said. But Gurpreet, the same isn`t the case with Rani. Don`t we all know the long list of friends she has-- Govinda, Preity, Ash... the list continues!