Aishwariya Rai may be excited about landing the female lead in Shankar's magnum opus, Robot, but the actress seems to be having a tough time trying to match her dates with the superstar, Rajnikanth.

Before Ash con firmed her name for the project, there were reports stating that she was not interested in the project. However, the reason behind Ash's reluctance stemmed from the fact she would have to commit bulk dates for the project. Sources reveal that Shankar wanted two months of back-to-back dates from the actress. But she was not in a position to commit for the required dates. However, Shankar needed those dates as they matched with Rajni's. He has been having a tough time trying to coordinate the dates. Since the film is being made on a lavish scale, the director understandably does not want to take any risks and incur losses. Another reason that is worrying Shankar is that the plot of Robot has been leaked out and he wants to make sure he goes on the floors before anyone else picks up the idea. Currently, the director has decided to go ahead and start the shoot with Rajni and Ash separately. He is shooting their solo scenes first and will then coordinate the joint scenes as and when their dates match. The casting took time as Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone backed out of the project and had to be replaced with Rajni and Ash. Now Shankar does not want to delay the project any further.