It was reported in sections of the press that director Shankar, after the release of his Rajnikanth-Aishwarya Rai starrer 'Enthiran', might commit himself to make the Tamil remake of the Bollywood superhit film '3 Idiots' starring Aamir Khan, Madhavan and Sharmaan Joshi.

It was also reported that the Tamil version of '3 Idiots' would be produced by Gemini Productions and that Vijay would play Aamir's role in the original version and that Simbu and Madhavan would be the other two heroes in the film, with Mahavan repeating his act and Simbu taking on the role played by Sharmaan Joshi.

In a recent interview to a Tamil weekly magazine, Simbu was asked whether he would actually be starring in the Tamil remake of '3 Idiots'. Simbu, in his typical style, had replied that while it was a good thing to act along side a 'big' star like Vijay, he was apprehensive in playing the role as he knew for a fact that most of his fans were fans of Ajith too!

"I, therefore, would have to give some thought to it before arriving at a decision," Simbu had reportedly said. Simbu's remarks have generated a great controversy among the actors, with Radharavi (Secretary of the Nadigar Sangam) openly commenting that it was 'improper' on the part of Simbu to have said so in the interview.

Vijay's father and director S.A. Chandrasekaran, his PRO and many leading journalists tried to get in touch with Simbu to clear the air but couldn't contact him as he remained unavailable. Reports say that Gemini Productions and director Shankar have now 'decided' to replace Simbu with another actor in the film.