Mumbai, Dec. 18 -- Four years after the Aamir Khan-starring blockbuster Ghajini (2008), director AR Murugadoss is all set for his second Bollywood
project - a remake of his own Tamil hit, Thuppaki. While Akshay Kumar was always going to play the role of the male lead, there was some debate over who should play the female lead. But now, it looks like Sonakshi Sinha has beaten the other three actors whose names were being considered for the part.
The makers wanted an actress who looks like a boxer, and whose attitude can match Akshay's. Ishaqzaade star Parineeti Chopra, Cocktail actor Diana Penty and Kajal Agarwal, who stars alongside Vijay in the Tamil original, were the names in the ring.
An insider says that while "Parineeti was in talks for the role, Diana and Kajal were not very high on the makers' priority list. Sonakshi was always on Murugadoss's mind. The idea was to cast a girl who can match Akshay's machismo with an unapologetic attitude. And she has proved she can do that with the Dabangg series."
Interestingly, the Thuppakki remake will be Sonakshi's fourth film with Akshay, after Rowdy Rathore, Joker and the unreleased Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai 2. She also did an item number in Akshay's hit film, OMG: Oh My God. It's believed that Akshay also wanted Sonakshi for the role, even though he wasn't involved with the process. "The casting was Murugadoss's call. Akshay is friends with Sonakshi and her family, but he has been too busy with Khiladi 786 and the shooting of Boss to participate in these
decisions," adds the insider.
Shooting for the yet-untitled remake, jointly produced by Akshay's Hari Om Entertainment and Vipul Shah's Sunshine Pictures, will begin early next year. The script has apparently been tweaked to suit a pan-Indian audience.
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Published by HT Syndication with permission from Hindustan Times.
