By Subhash K. Jha, IANS

Producer Gaurang Doshi has roped in John Abraham and Aishwarya Rai for his mystical romantic musical "Happy Birthday" and says "they look like Adonis and Venus together".

They have not been paired before. "But if you close your eyes you can see how good John and Aishwarya look together," Doshi told IANS.

To be directed by Sriram Raghavan, who earlier did Ram Gopal Varma's "Ek Hasina Thi", "Happy Birthday" starts shooting in January.

"We had signed John about a year back. But we needed a strong charismatic and popular leading lady because 'Happy Birthday' isn't about just the male protagonist. When Ash said yes, everything fell into place. She has never been seen with John before," said Doshi.

John is on the lookout for new leading ladies. In "Water" he's paired with Lisa Ray, in "Baabul" with Rani Mukherjee and in "Salaam-e-Ishq" with Vidya Balan for the first time.

"The catch-line for 'Happy Birthday' will be, 'Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.' We needed a magical pair. John and Ash have the quality."

"I think Aishwarya and I will make a good team. It's a great script. Sriram is a super-director, and we're excited," said John.

The music score is by Vishal-Shekhar.