Alia-Ranbir in Imtiaz Ali's next

Ranbir Kapoor, who had a fairly disastrous time at the box office recently, has been seriously advised by those close to him to steer clear of his comfort zone. He is unlikely to do more films with Katrina Kaif, Deepika Padukone and Anushka Sharma with whom he has a done a majority of his movies.

But Ranbir’s latest release Tamasha has done well enough for its director Imtiaz Ali to cast him yet again. This time, his heroine will be Alia Bhatt.

"Ranbir with Katrina and Deepika has become a predictable pair. He never cared who his heroine was. In Rockstar, Imtiaz cast a new face Nargis Fakhri with Ranbir. Imtiaz’s next will feature Ranbir with Alia for the first time," says a source.

Incidentally, Ranbir’s best friend Ayan Mukerjee has cast Alia and him in his super-hero film. The future of that project is uncertain at the moment.

Photograph: Pradeep Bandekar