John Abraham opts out of Aankhen 2

John Abraham is no longer part of Aankhen 2. The original was based on the Gujarati play Andhalo Pato and featured  Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Arjun Rampal and Paresh Rawal. While both Akshay and Arjun had dropped out of Aankhen 2, John had replaced Akshay in the film. 

Director Anees Bazmee who worked with John in Welcome Returns, roped in the actor for this film as well. John was to play a blind man for the first time in the sequel.

Says a source, “John and Anees were keen to work together for Aankhen 2, post WR, but the actor’s date diary was in a mess post his injury on the sets of Force 2. He had to recuperate from his injury for a few weeks leaving the Force 2 schedule in disarray. Also, producer Gaurang Doshi could not afford John’s price after he hiked it to Rs12 crore, post the success of his last film. The makers, including Anees, tried to negotiate with John to bring his price down, but he was adamant. The makers are now looking for another A-Lister for the role.”

Amitabh Bachchan remains the baddie in Aankhen 2. A new entrant to the sequel is Anil Kapoor, John’s co-star in Welcome Returns. Buzz is that Katrina Kaif was approached to play one of the two heroines in the film. Bipasha Basu and Sushmita Sen had featured in the orginal Aankhen.