‘Welcome’ sequel: Akshay Kumar out, John Abraham in

It’s intriguing how fast the dynamics of a star value changes in Bollywood. A string of flops and no filmmaker is willing to put his money on you.

This is clearly evident by how fast Akshay Kumar is fading away, while his junior John Abraham is inching to the top.

After his successful run as a producer in ‘Vicky Donor’, and with so much buzz surrounding his next action thriller ‘Shootout at Wadala’, John is turning out to be a current favourite.

The Anees Bazmee directed ‘Welcome’, which released in 2007, was a massive blockbuster, and the film’s producer Firoz Nadiawala is keen on cashing in on its success with a sequel.

But, when the cast for the sequel was announced Akshay was left out, while John remained from the original cast.

It is reported that the filmmakers paid John a whopping INR 15 crore for his part.

They have, however, retained Anil Kapoor and Nana Patekar from the original cast but are looking for a replacement for late actor Firoz Khan.

The movie will be directed by Anees.

An Indian media reported that when “talks with Akshay Kumar fizzled out, Firoz was looking for another option. Anees and Firoz decided to cast John.

“Given that there’s so much buzz around John’s upcoming movie with Sanjay Gupta, it was evident that the actor would cash in on this movie.”

Nadiawala, however, did not confirm or deny these developments.

“‘Welcome Back’ will be a complete family entertainer.”

 While the original starred Katrina Kaif, the sequel’s leading lady is yet to be finalised.

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