New Delhi, Aug 10 (IANS): Movie production company UTV Motion Pictures Wednesday denied reports that Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor has replaced Aishwarya Rai as the lead in Madhur Bhandarkar's project "Heroine", which was put on the backburner following the news of Aish's pregnancy.

Though last week Kareena admitted to a leading news daily that she has signed up for the movie, UTV's official statement tells a different story.

"We would like to clarify that no casting has been finalised for 'Heroine' at all," said the statement.

The clarification was made following a report by a Mumbai-based tabloid, which stated that Kareena had demanded Rs.10 crore for the project, but has now settled the deal for Rs.8 crore.

"We further wish to state that no financial terms have been agreed upon and definitely not even remotely close to the figures quoted in the article today," the statement read further.

The story of "Heroine" takes a behind-the-scenes look at the life and times of a Bollywood superstar.

While Kareena was the original choice for the film, Aishwarya was finalised for it.

After 10 days of the shoot, Aishwarya's father-in-law, megastar Amitabh Bachchan broke the news about her pregnancy. The film was put on hold indefinitely.

"I was in a state of shock and depression," Bhandarkar posted on his blog earlier.