Eon Productions officially deny hiring Imagio Entertainments who have been linking Aishwarya Rai with a Bond 21 role

15-Apr-2003 • Casino Royale

The Times of India have reported that EON Productions have emphatically denied asking Aishwarya Rai or any other Indian actress to be 007`s playmate in the next instalment.

"These are rumours. We have not approached Aishwarya... we have no script, no casting agent, not even a date for the film," said Catherine McCormack of Eon Productions, the company that creates 007`s cinematic exploits.

The company, which says it doesn`t know when, where or with whom it will embark on the next Bond film, Bond 21, insists the fevered speculation about Aishwarya Rai is reminiscent of other Bond films, other times and other countries.

Eon`s flat denial comes on the heels of frantic stories burning up newswires around the globe that Rai was likely to bring her Indian beauty and notions of cine chastity to the sexually-permissive sequels.

Asked if Bond might still end up with an Indian leading lady, McCormack would only say, "Perhaps. But we have not thought of it at the moment".

Late on Monday, reports from Mumbai quoted Imagio Entertainments, London, saying they had offered only Rai the role.

But McCormack denied Imagio was acting under the authority of the Bond producers. "We have never asked them to do any work for us. When we get a script, well get a casting agent and they will start to look around", she said.

Thanks to Luca for the intel.