The plot: Coca-Cola India has signed an agreement with the Yash Raj Films banner for product placement of its brand Coke in the film scenes, due for release on Diwali, this year. However, the film stars ShahRukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan - both from PepsiCo's stable. While ShahRukh Khan endorses PepsiCo's flagship brand Pepsi in the country, Amitabh Bachchan used to be the face for another Pepsico brand Mirinda till recently. (Big B's contract with Pepsi ended last year.) Only Aishwarya Rai, the female lead, is a face associated with the Coke brand.

So the twist in the storyline is clear: will Coke be chary of promoting Pepsi's stars, and won't Pepsi be leery of touching a Coke-sponsored movie?While Coke sources remain mum on the size of the deal, industry sources hint that the brand could have paid as much as Rs 1.5 crore to be associated with Mohabbatein.

While Coca-Cola shrugs off the choice of the movie as its decision to associate itself with ``big banners'', Pepsi says that the deal doesn't bother them as neither ShahRukh Khan or Amitabh Bachchan will be endorsing the Coke brand.

Both could be putting up a brave face. For, according to a source who was involved with the deal, initially, even Pepsi had tried to bid for the deal - as the movie promoted the stars and values (youth, friendship, fun) close to the brand.

It appears that both Coke and Pepsi had been talking to the film's producer since January 2000 but ultimately it was Coke which managed to clinch the agreement for Rs 1.5 crore. Coca-Cola marketing manager-consumer activation Apurvi Sheth is mum on the deal. The film directed by Aditya Chopra, say Bollywood pundits, is a promised box-office hit and the Coke brand is likely to get significant mileage out of the exposure in the movie.

Coke says that it is simply taking forward its strategy of ``innovation, integration and experiential'' marketing by associating itself with yet another blockbuster. Sheth assures that the agreement with the Yash Raj banner is to ensure Coke's presence in the film by positioning it as a `friend' unlike in Taal where the product was actually used by the stars - Aishwarya Rai and Akshay Khanna - as an object of affection.

So, what exactly will Coke get for Rs 1.5 crore? For starters, Coca-Cola has sponsored the hub of activity and a place which represents love and freedom in Mohabbatein - Kake's Cafe, a cafe reminiscent of Pop Tates in Archies comics. Significantly, about 30 per cent of the film's storyboard - including two songs - are shot on this set which apparently was constructed over a period of three months in Filmcity, Mumbai.

``Since the Coca-Cola brand worldwide is associated with youth and freedom, we felt that it would be a self-explanatory and clear indication of the kind of atmosphere that we are trying to generate in this part of the film,'' says Mahen Vakil, executive producer Yash Raj Films Pvt Ltd.

Taal, incidentally was Coca-Cola India's second attempt - the first being in 1999 with Hum Saath Saath Hain - where it tried to integrate all its fragmented movie activities into a consolidated, cohesive marketing plan. ``We needed to integrate all our acts to arrive at the sum of its total,'' says Sheth. As an integrated approach therefore, for these two movies, Coke marketed a whole lot of premia - including packaging innovations, ground events and other stuff in line with the movies.

The company now plans to replicate the same `integrated plan' with Mohabbatein post-release through `innovative' promotional stuff. While not willing to divulge its exact plans, Coke says that it will do ``ground-level acts around movies and theatres''.

Without using ShahRukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan, who are associated with the rival cola? ``That's not the issue. We'll be promoting the movie not the stars,'' insists Sheth. In any case, she adds that there are six youngsters being featured in the movie - Uday Chopra; Shamita Shetty; Kim; Jugal Hansraj; Jimmy Shergill and Preeti Gangyani - with whom the brand will associate.

Meanwhile, the Atlanta-based company - as part of its region-specific brand strategy - has extended the experiential marketing concept to regional films as well. For instance, the company has signed for in-placement agreement for its Thums Up brand in one of the forthcoming films from Suresh Naidu.

On just how Pepsi will counter the potential Mohabattein mania, the cola giant, is not spilling the beans as yet. ``It's too early to say. It will all depend on who gets the distribution rights, which theatres the movie will be released at, etc,'' says the Pepsi spokesperson. Though Pepsi does not plan to associate its brand with any particular movie in the near future, it does intend to have a mega promotion around the festival season. It promises to be a thrilling climax.