Sushmita Sen will appear in an item number in Sajid Khan’s film, Housefull, dancing to the remixed version of the famous song ‘Apni Toh Jaise Taisi’.

Confirmation of Sushmita’s appearance in the song – first made famous by Amitabh Bachchan in the 1981 blockbuster Lawaaris – puts persistent rumours of Aishwarya Rai’s appearance in the Housefull item number to rest.

While Aishwarya Rai was indeed approached to appear in the song, sources say she has turned the offer down, allegedly due to the link the song has with her father-in-law. She is also currently busy with a filming schedule including Guzaarish, Action Replay and Endhiran. Had Aish agreed, it would have been only her third item number appearance, following ‘Ishq Kamina’ (with Shahrukh Khan in the film Shakti – The Power) and ‘Kajra Re’ (with Amitabh Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan in the film Bunty Aur Babli).

Aishwarya’s loss is Sushmita’s gain. Sush will appear alongside Akshay Kumar, Riteish Deshmukh and Arjun Rampal in a dance number choreographed by Farah Khan. The music will be remixed by Shankar Ehsaan and Loy, to add today’s flavour while retaining a classic feel.

Aishwarya Rai is all set to dazzle audiences with her dance moves at the 10th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards night in Macau, China, next month – her second such appearance at the glamorous event.

She had enthralled audiences by dancing to hit song “Kajra re” at Amsterdam in 2005. She will perform at The Venetian-Macau Resort on the night of June 13, an IIFA press statement said. Aishwarya`s father-in-law, megastar Amitabh Bachchan, is the brand ambassador of IIFA.

Also performing at the event will be Sonam Kapoor, who will make her on-stage debut, and Kareena Kapoor, who will show off her belly dancing skills.

Bollywood actors Boman Irani and Riteish Deshmukh, who had the audience in splits with their humour.

At the awards last year in Bangkok, will play hosts to the glitzy cine event again in Macau. Joining the two would be beauty queen-turned-actress Lara Dutta.

The three-day IIFA Weekend will be held June 11-13 and is expected to draw over 500 luminaries from the Indian film industry. On why Macau was chosen as the destination for celebrating a decade of IIFA, the orhanisers said they hoped it would “end the deadlock between India and China over the exchange of cinema”.

“We feel it`s (Macau) the Las Vegas of the East. In this 10th year of IIFA`s existence we wanted either the US or China to be our venue,” said Sabbas Joseph, one of the directors of Wizcraft, the organisers of the event.

“We chose China because we feel it could be a gateway for Indian cinema to the West. We also hope to end the deadlock between India and China over the exchange of cinema. We haven`t come away from one venue without opening up doors for the India film industry. We are confident this would be the case in China,” he added.