Period movies are suddenly big. Every filmmaker seem eager to take on the epic mantle. While Ketan Mehta's Mangal Pandey is on its way, Ashutosh Gowariker has also announced his intentions of making Akbar-Jodha next.

But the most interesting historical epic is yet to come. It's the one based on the romance between the Rajput emperor Prithviraj Chauhan and his ladylove Samyukta.

Two prominent filmmakers, Raj Kumar Santoshi and Chandraprakash Diwedi, want to bring the same epic to the big screen. And they both want to cast Aishwarya in the female lead.

Explains Rai, "Santoshiji and I almost did Prithviraj-Samyukta. But then we zeroed in on another project, Saamna, which we're starting later this year.

But Prithviraj-Samyukta is very much on, though not necessarily with Santoshiji.

Dr Chandraprakash Diwedi wanted to make a movie on the same subject and was adamant to do Prithviraj-Samyukta with me. I told him I was ethically committed to Santoshiji for the subject. He said, "Dono kar lo."

But why should two good filmmakers make the same film? The core personality of the historical figure gets diluted in the duplication."

And she has a point.

This is exactly what happened with Santoshi and Guddu Dhanoa's biopics on Bhagat Singh.

"The whole idea gets lost in superficial comparisons. I spoke to both directors and we've decided I'll play Samyukta for whoever makes the film first. Both agreed that only one of them would make the film.

This was a settlement worked out among the three of us. Both Rajji and Chandraprakashji have done ample research and are ready to share their knowledge with each other."

So who will finally make this prestigious costume epic? We wager our bets on Dr Diwedi.

Santoshi is currently busy with Family, featuring Amitabh Bachchan and Akshay Kumar. After that, he goes straight into Saamna with Aishwarya Rai, Ajay Devgan and Akshay Kumar. Thereafter, he's working on another film with Devgan.

The kind of discipline, dedication and focus required for an immense project like Prithviraj-Samyukta can be found only in a filmmaker with one assignment on hand.

After proving himself in the time-recall ambience of Pinjar, Dr Chandraprakash Diwedi would probably wangle the prized project.

But there's only one person who has the most to gain from this battle royal: be it Santoshi or Diwedi, Ash wins both ways.