Aamir Khan in Dhoom 3

Aamir Khan will play the smooth criminal in the next installment of India most successful film franchise – Dhoom.

The film is being bankrolled by Yash Raj Films (YRF), executive produced by Aditya Chopra, and helmed by Vijay Krishna Acharya aka Victor.

Victor's credentials as a director are underwhelming. He last directed the box office fizzle Tashan, and later assisted Mani Ratnam in Raavan, another BO disaster. However, Victor has done well as a writer, having penned all the three Dhoom scripts.

Confirming his participation in the project, Aamir said, "It is indeed a pleasure to be working with Yashji and Adi once again. Dhoom is a great franchise, most entertaining and full of fun. Every time I hear the theme tune of Dhoom it brings a swing to my step. Victor's script really won me over and I look forward to working with him."

YRF head honcho and famed director Yash Chopra said, "It's a great pleasure to have Aamir working with YRF once again. It's even more special that he will be doing Dhoom: 3. I am terribly excited with what an actor like Aamir will bring to the Dhoom franchise with his unique star power and level of performance. Adi and Victor have worked over a year to bring out, what I can now confidently say, is possibly one of the best scripts coming out of YRF and I am sure that with Aamir and Adi together, they will both create magic to give our audience one of the most exciting films they have ever seen."

Abhishek Bachchan and Uday Chopra will reprise their roles as police inspectors Jai Dixit and Ali respectively, who despite being smart albeit comical repeatedly get outwitted by the bad guy, played by John Abraham in Dhoom and Hrithik Roshan in Dhoom 2.

The lead role in the film is rumored to have been earlier offered to Shah Rukh Khan

Filming is scheduled to start by year end with release slated for Christmas 2012.