Aankhen 2 cast, release date announced: May clash with Rohit Shetty's Golmaal Again

In what could turn into a big box office clash, director Anees Bazmee has said that he may release his forthcoming film Aankhen 2 next year in Diwali — a festive slot which will also see the release of Rohit Shetty’s Golmaal Again. “We will start shooting next month. We are planning a Diwali release next year. It’s a big film so it has to come on a special day,” Anees told PTI. The fourth instalment of the comedy franchise Golmaal will also open in theaters on Diwali next year. Golmaal Again will feature Ajay Devgn, Arshad Warsi, Sharman Joshi, Tusshar Kapoor, Paresh Rawal and Rimi Sen in lead roles. [caption id=“attachment_2965372” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The first poster of Aankhen 2.[/caption] All the three previous films - Golmaal (2006), Golmaal Returns (2008) and Golmaal 3 (2010) were released during Diwali and were box office success. Makers of Aankhen 2 announced on Wednesday night the star cast with Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, Ileana D’Cruz, south actress Regina Cassandra in the lead roles. But reports have emerged that though Ileana was offered the role, she had refused it and this announcement has irked her. The actress is now planning on taking the legal route against the filmmakers. A source has confided to DNA, “Sshe is not doing the film and the announcement has made her furious. She came to know about it only after the event when people contacted the actress to congratulate her. Now she is contemplating initiating action.” Bazmee says he will soon announce the names of two “established actors” who will join the star cast of Aankhen 2. “There will be two more actors for Aankhen 2, one who will play the role of a blind man, named Rahul. The actor who will play this part is a well known actor from the younger generation. There would be another well known actor who would be part of the film as well,” Bazmee told PTI. A heist drama Aankhen 2 is a sequel to 2002 release Aankhen, which saw three blind men, played by Arjun, Paresh Rawal and Akshay Kumar, rob a bank that was once headed by Bachchan. Sushmita Sen also played an important role in the film that was directed by Vipul Amrutlal Shah. In the second installment, Arjun, Arshad will play the role of blind men, while there would be one more young actor who would join the duo to carry out the heist. Though the basic premise of the story is same, Bazmee says, sequel will have a different angle with the heist centering around a casino. “The three blind men will rob casino. Till now no robbery has taken place in a casino. We will shoot in a casino abroad for this,” he added. Bazmee also said, “There was lot of speculation happening about the casting; like Katrina Kaif  being a part of it, or even Abhishek and Akshay, but we never gave out any names.” In a strange coincidence, Arshad Warsi has replaced Akshay Kumar in Aankhen’s sequel while Kumar has replaced him in the sequel of Jolly LLB. When Warsi was asked about this, he had earlier said, “I was supposed to do Jolly LLB 2, but Fox Star Studios needed a bigger star, so they chose Akshay. It makes it easier for marketing, it makes it easier to have a hit. With me, you (the filmmakers) have to make a good film, so that is the problem.” With inputs from PTI