Ever since the Hindi film ‘3 Idiots’ hit the screens last December and become attained a cult status there has been news pouring in from all quarters about its remakes in south Indian languages. There have been enough permutations and combinations worked out by all as to who would play the three idiots – Aamir Khan, Madhavan and Sharman Joshi in the southern versions.

First it was said Vikram will do the Aamir Khan and Madhavan will play the same in Tamil. Then Vijay’s name cropped up to it soon began to take serious proportions. Jeevan and Silambarasan were also discussed to take up a character and that will begin a new era in multi starrers in Tamil. Then suddenly Suriya’s name was in media saying even he has shown interest in the film.

The hype was not only there for Tamil. Even Tollywood was abuzz with its own remake of ‘3 Idiots’. First it was mentioned that Pawan Kalyan may enact Aamir Khan’s role in Telugu. Now the latest buzz is Mahesh Babu has been almost finalized in Telugu. In Tamil Vijay was there in almost all casting contemplations and now it is almost certain Vijay will be Aamir Khan in Tamil.

But the biggest deal was who will direct the remakes? Again there were a host of names tossed up including Saran and K S Ravikumar. But now suddenly there are news seriously reporting that Shankar will direct the versions in both Kollywood and Tollywood. Shankar who has just completed the most expensive Indian film ‘Endhiran’ is now busy working on the release. With some of the biggest names in Indian media like Rajinikanth, Kalanidhi Maran and Aishwarya Rai - ‘Endhiran’ will stay as the biggest Tamil film ever for some time to come. Having directed the biggest ever south Indian movie will Shankar opt to direct a remake as his next?

Some reports say director Shankar has even confirmed the news to a television channel in Andhra Pradesh. Gemini Film Circuit which has the remake rights hasn’t confirmed the news.