For sometime now Ram Gopal Varma has been on a sticky wicket. First, he invited the ire of the common man with his controversial remarks on Lord Ganesha on Twitter; then, he made news with his huge debts (Mirror, September 19); and last week (Mirror, October 11), he got a legal notice from producer Boney Kapoor for changing the name of his upcoming Telugu film, Savitri, to Sridevi.

Finally, the dark clouds have got a silver lining. Ekta Kapoor has signed RGV to direct a film for her banner. It is intriguingly titled XES.

Revealed a source close to the production house, “Yes, RGV officially came on board on Friday. Before that Ekta ensured that there would be no roadblock. On October 5, she announced in the trade papers that if anybody opposed RGV's involvement with her company, he/she should come forward.When nobody did, the deal was sealed. There have been reports that RGV will co-produce the film with Ekta but he will film with Ekta but he will only wield the megaphone this time.“

The Ekta-RGV collaboration will be a collection of seven short stories. Added the source, “They are all erotic stories, dealing with issues like adultery, premarital sex, lust and betrayal.“

The last film that worked for RGV, both commercially and critically, was Sarkar Raj that released in 2008. Maybe he can rule the box-office again with XES--or sex in reverse.