It's been a slow and steady climb for the langorous Deol. After losing out on plum assignments like Mani Rathnam's Yuva and Apoorva Lakhia's Mission Istanbul, Bobby Deol suddenly bounced back last year with a stellar performance in Yashraj Films' Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. Though the film was a dud, Bobby was widely appreciated.

And now, from Yashraj, Bobby moves to another biggie. He is now been signed by Karan Johar for his untitled production to be directed by debutant Tarun Mansukhani. The film already has Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham in it. So, where does Bobby fit in?

"You wait and watch," promises Karan. "Bobby is going to surprise everyone in Tarun's film. We needed a certain presence and an actor with specific personality for one of the leads. Bobby fitted the bill. He's going to be the band mutthi of Tarun's film."

Priyanka Chopra who plays the female lead in this breezy romantic film is looking forward to working with Bobby. "He and I go back a long way. I've worked with both Bobby and Sunny. If Sunny was my hero in my first film The Hero, Bobby and I did Kismat and Barsaat together. He has a fabulous role in Karan's film,â€' enthuses Priyanka.