Khiladi’s New Gamble

The underworld theme,teamed with retro costumes and over-the-top dialogues worked magic for Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai,making it one of the biggest hits of 2010. Not satiated with it’s success,the producer of the film,Ekta Kapoor,and director Milan Luthria are getting together yet again to take forward the story of Shoaib Khan,the irreverent heir to underworld don Sultan Mirza,through a sequel to the film. However,the twist in the tale is that the team has replaced Emraan Hashmi,who played Shoaib’s character,modelled on underworld kingpin Dawood Ibrahim,in the original film,has been replaced by Akshay Kumar. A source close to the production house Balaji Motion Pictures said,“The success of the film prompted the team to go bigger with the sequel and Akshay Kumar hasn’t done such a role in the past,so the talks seem to have worked out.” It may prove to be Kumar’s big chance for a comeback after back-to-back duds over the last two years. The formal announcement of the film is likely to follow soon,though Kapoor remained unavailable for comment. Tanuj Garg,CEO,Balaji Motion Pictures,said,“Casting is in progress. Once we are ready to make a formal announcement,we will do so.”