Mumbai, Aug 3

Actor Imran Khan, who appeared with Sonam Kapoor in "I Hate Luv Storys" and became great buddies with her, was offered the male lead in the Anil Kapoor production "Aisha" but he declined saying there was not much for him to do.

"Rhea (Anil Kapoor's younger daughter who is producing 'Aisha') and Sonam (the female lead in film) did send the script over to Imran. I don't know why he didn't do it. Maybe he was wary of a script that was named after the heroine. But Abhay is the perfect choice," Anil said.

Anil admits Imran was indeed the first choice for Abhay Deol's role.

After Imran's no, Anil immediately commanded the "Aisha" team to rechristen the film.

"I told them no hero would take a film seriously if it is named after the heroine. I ordered them to call the film 'Production No. 3' not 'Aisha'. I was different I did so many heroine-centric films like 'Beta' with Madhuri Dixit and 'Lamhe' with Sridevi. Even 'Mr India' was more Sri's picture although it was our home production," he said.

Anil is very proud of his daughters for having managed "Aisha" all on their own.

"I did nothing. I gave Sonam and Rhea a free hand. I was there to help them with inputs. But 'Aisha' is completely their baby. Now we're planning two to three new productions. One of them would definitely have Sonam in it," he said.