Abhay Deol was right. Post the super success of his 'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara' and Emraan Hashmi's 'Murder 2', he was confident that stocks of their next film together, 'Shanghai', would be sky high. Well, his belief has stayed on to be true, what with the makers of 'Shanghai' willing to take on none less than Aamir Khan.

"'Shanghai' has been confirmed for release on India's Republic Day i.e. 26th January next year. Now this is the same date that was locked for Aamir Khan's next with Reema Kagti which is rumoured to be titled 'Dhuaan'", confirms a trade source.

Now this is nothing less than shocking because in the times when no film would dare to come anywhere close to an Aamir Khan starrer, 'Shanghai' has taken it heads on and that too after making a sudden announcement. "It makes sense though for the film since it is a political thriller and reflects the state of the country that we live in. With corruption and scams all around us, it is a good marketing strategy to bring a topical film like on the Republic Day", adds the source.

One wonders though whether Aamir would be equally thrilled with this development since this would be pretty much a first for him. Whether it was 'Ghajini', '3 Idiots' or 'Dhobi Ghat', all of them have arrived without anyone daring to enter Aamir's territory. However Emraan and Abhay are pretty much doing that now.

Says Dibakar Bannerjee, "Frankly I have been stunned by the performances from our stars and our character artistes. I can safely say that all preconceived notions that people have about both Abhay and Emraan are going to be shattered by this movie. I can't wait to get to the edit table to shape this movie into one that will bring out the best of these performances." On the other hand Kamal Gianchandani, President, PVR Pictures (which has produced the film) also confirmed that 'Shanghai' would arrive on 26th January since there is 'no better date'.

And one thought only Aamir felt this way.