They may not be the best of friends. But right now Aishwarya Rai and Kareena Kapoor seem to be sailing in the same boat.

Both of them appear to be facing an acute dearth of co-stars. Hence, in spite of being among the reigning marquee divas they are perpetually left out of the rat race.

Run down their roster of co-stars, and you'll see an alarming scarcity of well-matched stars.

Aishwarya needs mature men rather than boys to pair with her. But the Khan triumvirate - Salman, Shah Rukh and Aamir - are out of bounds for her.

Aamir was reportedly miffed with Ash after she declined to do Ketan Mehta's "Mangal Pandey". Aamir's good friend Rani Mukherjee quickly and happily stepped into the void.

Shah Rukh, too, is disinclined to work with Ash. As for Salman...Ash has vowed never to work with him.

That leaves the stunner with Ajay Devgan, Sanjay Dutt and Akshay Kumar.

"I've done a number of films with them. But how many times can we be paired together? I'm certainly short of co-stars!" Ash sighs.

At least Kareena has the luxury of working with her soul mate Shahid Kapur. Her next release "Milenge Milenge" is with Shahid. She has also signed two other films with him.

Among the Khan triumvirate Salman is her co-star in Priyadarshan's ready-for-release untitled film.

However, Shah Rukh Khan is off-limits for Kareena. Reason? She apparently said no to "Kal Ho Na Ho".

That's when Preity Zinta stepped into the picture. Preity, it must be remembered, hadn't been on talking terms with Shah Rukh since "Dil Se".

Kareena's refusal was Preity's entry point and, like Aishwarya, Kareena got left out in the cold.

Ash can't even dare to pair with Vivek Oberoi. Their collaborative efforts in "Kyun...Ho Gaya Na" paid such poor dividends that all future plans of casting them together went kaput.

Vishal Bhardwaj and Deepa Mehta planned to cast them together in "Timbuctoo" and "Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam" respectively.

No more.

"It's a very strange situation," states Ash with a sigh. "I've worked with everyone from Abhishek to Anil Kapoor. But right now it seems like there's a shortage of co-stars. I'm working with Hrithik for the first time in 'Dhoom 2'. And I'm quite excited about it. It's very important to touch base with talented actors for any actor to grow."

Adds Kareena: "What do I do? I can't pretend to be over-friendly with the guys just to get movies with them. I've drawn a line regarding my social interactions with the industry. I'd rather get work because I deserve it rather than on the recommendation of actors. I do feel the need for co-stars who can challenge me to better myself. But I'm content with what I have."

List of Kareena's co-stars:

Shahid Kapoor in "Milenge Milenge"; Shahid Kapoor in Abbas-Mustan's next; Shahid Kapoor in Priyadarshan's next; Salman Khan in Priyadarshan's ready-for-release untitled film; Akshay Kumar in Suneel Darshan's "Dosti"; Harman Baweja in Harry Baweja's film.

List of Ash's co-stars:

Naveen Andrews in "Provoked"; Hrithik Roshan in "Dhoom 2"; Ben Kingsley and Colin Firth in "Last Legion"; Ajay Devgan and Akshay Kumar in "Samna".