With director Deepa Mehta washing her hands off "Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam" and new entrant Rituparno Ghosh claiming he's had enough of Bengali literature adaptations, when is the film expected to take off?

Barely a few weeks ago, Priyanka Chopra was linked to rumours about her stepping into Aishwarya Rai's shoes for the pivotal role of Choti Bahu in the Pritish Nandy Communications project.

Film director Karan Johar called the former beauty queen the hottest contender for Bollywood's elitist Aishwarya-Preity-Rani-Kareena league.

But would Chopra be seen in the role epitomised by Meena Kumari in Bimal Mitra's much-celebrated screen version of the classic?

Deepa Mehta denied any knowledge of it.

"I've no clue where this came from. I've never met Priyanka, never discussed any project with her. As far as I know, the project is a part of my past," she said.

The "Fire" director had been keen to cast Aishwarya Rai and Vivek Oberoi as the Choti Bahu and her faithful man Friday Bhootnath.

But with Mehta out of the prestigious project, the film passed into the hands of Rituparno Ghosh.

"Yes, I met Pritish and his daughter Rongita Nandy about a possible new version of 'Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam'," admits Ghosh.

"But I've just done two period films - 'Chokher Bali' and 'Antar Mahal' based on Bangla literature. A third one will be a little too much for me. But yes, I'd like to get into it sometime later.

As for the role of the unforgettable daughter-in-law stuck in a feudal Bengali household, battling bigotry, gender discrimination and alcoholism, Ghosh said:

"Priyanka would be fine. I'd love to do 'Sahib...' with Priyanka. But not right away."

But wasn't Choti Bahu a far older character?

"Yes, in the film she was far older because she was played by Meena Kumari. But in Bimal Mitra's novel, Choti Bahu was younger.

"When Priyanka's name was mentioned for the pivotal role, I was sceptical. They then showed me a photo shoot of hers dressed as Choti Bahu and I must say I was impressed."

At the moment, the future of "Sahib..." and Bangla literature adaptations in mainstream Hindi cinema depends entirely on the fate of Vidhu Vinod Chopra's "Parineeta" based on Saratchandra's novel that is due to hit theatres soon.

If this ornate period piece does as well as Sanjay Leela Bhansali's adaptation of another Saratchandra novel "Devdas", then Pritish Nandy Communications is bound to revive "Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam".