Has Saif Ali Khan shown director Sriram Raghavan the door, after JOHNNY GADDAAR proved a failure at the box-office? Reportedly, Imtiaz Ali has been roped in to direct the desi James Bond film AGENT VINOD, which Saif is producing. That's what a section of the media would like us to believe.

"Absolutely false," Sriram sets the record straight, "Saif hasn't shown me the door. I was with Dinesh Vijan [Saif's partner in production] yesterday. We're still in the scripting stages. There's no question of either walking out or being thrown out of the film. I would've taken it [the exit] in my stride, if true. But the fact remains that it's completely false."

The talented storyteller continues in the same breath, "I read somewhere that Imtiaz [Ali] has been roped in to direct AGENT VINOD. That's not true again. May be he's directing another film for Saif. I must add, I saw JAB WE MET today and really liked Imtiaz's work in the film. He's good."

So what's the status right now? "My brother [Sridhar Raghavan] is writing the script of AGENT VINOD. It'll take some time before we start the film. In the meanwhile, I am working on the John Abraham starrer that Ramesh Sippy and Rohan Sippy are producing. This project is very much on as well. In fact, we plan to start the film by the year-end," Sriram divulges.