Aankhen 2‘s director Anees Bazmee refuses to get involved in the row between producer Gaurang Doshi and actress Ileana D’Cruz. “This has nothing to do with me. It’s true that Gaurang and I met Ileana for Aankhen 2. I don’t know why she decided not to do the movie; we must respect her decision,” he told Deccan Chronicle recently.
The spat between the actress and the producer began at the launch event of the film last month. During the course of the launch, director Bazmee announced that Ileana would play a major role in Aankhen 2, alongside Amitabh Bachchan, Arjun Rampal, Arshad Warsi and Regina Cassandra.
On 19 August, the actress took to Twitter denying Bazmee’s claims.
For all those asking, I have not signed #Aankhen2…
— Ileana D'Cruz (@Ileana_Official) August 19, 2016
According to a report in DNA, producer Gaurav Narang, Aneez Bazmee, and writer Neeraj Pathak met the actress, where she told them how keen she was to sign the film. “Ileana said she’d really enjoyed the music and was ready for the mahurat shot. We informed her about the launch and she agreed to be a part of it,” said Narang to BollywoodLife. He further added that she said she would sign the agreement within a week.
Gaurang Doshi, miffed by Ileana’s decision, declared that the film does not need her anyway. “If we wanted to use an actor’s name to promote our film, we would have said that Aankhen 2 stars Deepika Padukone or Katrina Kaif,” he was quoted saying.
Read: Ileana Threatens Legal Action Against Aankhen 2 Producers
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However, Bazmee’s silence on the matter could stem from the fact that Ileana will be seen in his other film Mubarakan. “Ileana is working in Mubarakan and it would be unethical of me to discuss her reasons for not doing my other film. As far as Mubarakan is concerned, she’s been very professional in her dealings, and I love the way she has responded to her character and to the script. I could tell from her expressions that she completely understood the situations in comedy. I’m looking forward to working with her,” he said.
Also read: Mubarakan Gets A Release Date And Two New Cast Members
Aankhen 2 is a sequel to 2002’s Hindi film Aankhen starring Amitabh Bachchan, Sushmita Sen, Arjun Rampal, Akshay Kumar, and Paresh Rawal. Directed by Vipul Amrutlal Shah, the film was about a bank robbery executed by three blind men with Bachchan playing the mastermind.