After Vidya and Rani, now Emraan Hashmi refuses to be part of the Vishal Bhardwaj project

Vishal Bhardwaj's film Daayan is caught under a bad spell.

The filmmaker, who has been pulling all stops to get this project rolling, seems to be meeting endless roadblocks on the way. The film was first offered to Vidya Balan who refused the role.

Rani Mukerji too apparently walked out because she wasn't happy with the rest of the casting and now Emraan Hashmi, the only male lead who was finalised for the female-oriented film seems to have shut his doors on the director.

Says a source, "Emraan was part of the project, but no female leads were being finalised. Also he has been pretty tied up with a lot of other projects coming his way, so juggling dates was an issue."

The film revolves around three women and a man who is in a relationship with them at different stages.

One of the women turns out to be a witch. None of the actresses seem to have warmed up to the story idea and unfortunately the filmmaker now has to look for a male lead actor as well.

Adds the source, "It is a subject where the women are at the main focus of the plot. It wasn't really a role Emraan couldn't let go of."

Since Vishal's last film Saat Khoon Maaf sank without a trace, perhaps some amount of scepticism comes from there as well.

That too, probably is why he has not been able to zero in on a project post the Priyanka Chopra starrer. Now he may have little choice but to shelve the idea of Daayan.

Sources say, "Since no one really has come on board for the project there is a possibility that Vishal may postpone it or shelve it."

The director's next film Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola is also facing casting issues, but now Imran Khan has been finalised for the film. Bhardwaj and Emraan were unavailable for comment.