Filmmaker Vishal Bharadwaj ruled out rumours that Aamir Khan was in the cast of his forthcoming film Mr Mehta And Mrs Singh.

The director is attending the International Film Festival of India to promote his latest film Blue Umbrella, an adaptation of Mr Ruskin Bond's story by the same name. Blue Umbrella is slated for release in May 2006. Bharadwaj refused to divulge any details about Aamir's exclusion.

The director said he was concentrating on his next project Othello starring Ajay Devgan, Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor. The film will go on floors on January 15 and will be completed by the year end after which he will focus on Mr Mehta and Mrs Singh to be produced by UTV.

Earlier, Mr Mehta and Mrs Singh had attracted a lot of attention because it was among the first films Aamir had signed after his three-year sabbatical post Lagaan.

Aamir's next release Rang De Basanti directed by Rakesh Mehra is releasing on January 20, Mr Aditya Shastri of UTV motion pictures said.

Mr Shastri said UTV wanted to popularise Blue Umbrella at film festivals in different parts of the world before releasing it in theatres as part of its marketing strategy.

Bharadwaj said Othello is an adaption of Shakeshpearean works because the stories are dramatic and timeless. He said children's films do well at the box office and his own Makdee and the recent Hanuman are cases in point.

Blue Umbrella was shot in 26 days and is a film about desires, zealous attempt to fulfil it and finally its conquest. The story unfurls with the discovery of a vibrant blue umbrella by Biniya, an 11-year-old girl from an idyllic mountain village in north India.