There’s a whole lot of speculation surrounding Kabir Khan’s next directorial after Chandu Champion. Earlier, speaking to us, he junked rumours about making Babbar Sher with Salman Khan. But recently, reports started doing the rounds that he’s in talks with Vicky Kaushal for a film and that it may also mark Vicky’s first onscreen collaboration with wife, Katrina Kaif. Now, in an exclusive chat with News18 Showsha, the Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Ek Tha Tiger director hints that these rumours may not be completely wrong. Kabir reacts to him directing Vicky with a laugh and tells us that he would love to work with the Chhaava actor as his equation with him transcends professional boundaries. “Vicky is one of the finest actors that we have. He’s family to me. I’m extremely close to both Vicky and Katrina. So, I would love to work with him. At the end of the day, we as directors and actors, keep discussing ideas. There’s nothing concrete right now that can make me say that yes, we’re doing something together. But yes, I’ve been speaking to him,” he says. He further reveals that he’s also in talks with both Salman and Kartik Aaryan for other projects. “I’ve also been speaking to Salman. Any time I meet actors, we keep ideating. I keep ideating with Kartik too,” he states. However, at the moment, Kabir is busy working on a couple of ideas and he’s enjoying this all-consuming experience. “I’m in – what I like to call – the development phase. There are two-three ideas that I’ve been very excited about. I decided to take six-seven months off before jumping into a production,” he remarks. The filmmaker, who’s Setara, a short in the My Melbourne anthology, hits the screens in India today, also adds, “When you jump into a production, you get so involved with it that you don’t really get to develop a story. I’m developing those stories. In another three months, we should be able to bring these stories to a certain point where we’re happy and then maybe I’ll be able to announce my next film.” As for My Melbourne, Kabir shares that his short is based on a real-life story of a girl he and Kapil Dev met in Australia. “I discovered the story of Setara when I went to the Melbourne Film Festival with Kapil Dev for my film 83 that was winning the Best Film award there. There, we met the Afghan Women’s Cricket Team and realised that after the Taliban takeover, they all had to run away from Afghanistan to save their lives. The story fascinated me. My film is about his young girl named Setara, who’s playing herself in the film. It’s about how she had a dream of playing for the national cricket team but it got smashed when the Taliban came in and how Melbourne is helping her realise her dream all over again,” he says.