The heat is still on for director Ram Gopal Verma after the debacle of his Aag. Though the director has gone public and acknowledged his error in touching Sholay, and speak about reviving his Time Machine project with Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan, reports suggest otherwise.

It appears that Amitabh and Abhishek have refused to be part of Time Machine, a project Verma had once planned to do with Shah Rukh Khan and Kareena Kapoor. According to sources, the Bachchans have currently adopted a wait-and-watch policy. They would rather gauge the public response to Sarkar Raj before committing themselves to another project with the maverick director. The Bachchans want Sarkar Raj to be the first release of Aishwarya and Abhishek after their wedding, ahead of the release of Ashutosh Gowarikar's Jodha Akbar, the Ash-Hrithik Roshan starrer, for January 25 next year. So ever since he has finished the shooting of Sarkar Raj in October, Verma is believed to be immersed in the post production of the film to ensure that it releases before Gowarikar's epic saga. But according to sources, this seems difficult as the film's promos are not yet ready. If Verma is looking for a January release, he should have the promos running on air, at least by the first week of December. February seems more likely. Besides the post-production work on Sarkar Raj, the director has also started work on Contact, his latest film with rank newcomers.