Fans of former Miss World Aishwarya Rai Bachchan who had their hopes pinned for her return may rejoice. Aishwarya may be seen in Mani Ratnam's adaptation of Daphne Du Maurier's famous 1938 novel “Rebecca,” reports TOI on Tuesday, October 02, 2012.

An insider told TOI, "Ash and Ratnam go back a long way. Her cinematic debut, Iruvar in 1997 was directed by him. They worked again ten years later in Guru. The same year she got married. They again worked in 2010 in Raavan. Whenever Ratnam has offered Ash a role or a script she has always respected it. This time too, it was the same.”

Already adapted on the Bollywood screen twice, “Rebecca” is a story of about a newly-married woman who constantly lives under the shadow of her husband’s first wife, Rebecca. She feels demeaned with comparisons and believes that her marriage is nothing more than a sham. The story takes a turn later, but, until then the protagonist feels psychologically defeated and emotionally weak.
A glance at the plot and one realizes that it will be an intense and a powerful character to portray on screen for Ash, who will be playing the lead role of Mrs. de Winter - however, just the perfect character you would want for your comeback film.

While "Raavan", their last venture together failed, Mani Ratnam and Aishwarya Rai have been a part of immense hits like "Guru" and "Iruvar". Maniratnam is currently busy with Kadal post-production work.

If all goes as planned, “Rebecca” will go on floors by late next year and is expected to hit the theaters in 2014. At present Aishwarya is enjoying some down time with hubby Abhishek and baby Aradhya in the Windy City of Chicago.