By Subhash K Jha

Recession seems to have receded rapidly from Bollywood. So much so that Kunal Kohli who needed ample space to build a set for the next schedule of his film had to scurry to Madh Island to build his set.

Says the shell-shocked director, "I needed to create pre-Partition Punjab in 1910 and couldn't shoot in actual Punjab because the topography has changed completely. So we decided to put up a vast set. But none of the studios in Mumbai had space! So my art director Manish Sappal who is a Punjab expert after Pinjar and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, finally built it on Madh Island. "

On this set choreographer Chinni Prakash gets set to shoot the mother of all Qawwallis where Shahid Kapoor and Priyanaka Chopra will battle it out over that thing called love.

Says a source, "The Qawwalli written by Prasoon Joshi and composed by Sajid-Wajid is a hell-raiser. Both Shahid and Priyanka, though thorough professionals, are apparently bracing themselves for doing an Aashiqana Qawwalli in full public view, replete with references to boys with roving eyes and girls making eyes...

Shahid plays a Muslim boy while Priyanka Chopra plays a Sikh woman. They were cast because they understood the cultural references.