'Aankhen' sequel not to have Vipul Shah, Akshay Kumar

Producer Gaurang Doshi, lying low after the debacle of his "Deewaar: Let's Bring Our Heroes Home", is all set to return with two projects, including a sequel to his 2002 hit "Aankhen".

"One film is a quirky sentimental romantic comedy called 'Happy Birthday', to be directed by Sriram Raghavan (director of 'Ek Hasina Thi'). It stars John Abraham," Gaurang told IANS.

The "Aankhen" sequel will not have original director Vipul Shah and actor Akshay Kumar after Gaurang had a massive fall out with both. Arjun Rampal and Sushmita Sen are also not expected to feature in it.

From the original cast, Amitabh Bachchan and Paresh Rawal have already been sounded out.

Akshay and Gaurang fell out after the producer refused to arrange bulk passes for Akshay's family for the pre-release screening of "Aankhen". They also had monetary issues. Arjun felt he had got a raw deal when his only romantic song with Sushmita was edited out, and Sushmita openly supported Arjun.

"'Aankhen' had not just an open ending, but two open endings, one for the Indian market and the other for the overseas audiences. My scriptwriters and I can take forward the story from any of the two endings. We've already started working on it."

"I've got (actor-director) Sachin Pilgaonkar to direct the sequel. Why Sachin? Well, I've seen his work in Marathi films. It's outstanding. Sachin had some unfortunate experiences as a Hindi film director (he directed 'Prem Deewane' with Jackie Shroff, Madhuri Dixit and Pooja Bhatt for Subhash Ghai). I've coaxed him back into doing a Hindi film. Sachin is very excited about doing an Aankhen sequel, and about directing Mr. Bachchan."

Gaurang has put his stars' ego behind him. "Like I said no one is indispensable. If Akshay Kumar and Vipul Shah are working together, I am glad. They deserve one another. I'm much too small a producer to work with such great artistes. I've no choice but to replace them."

Gaurang is on the verge of signing two top-notch stars in place of Kumar and Rampal.

"While the first 'Aankhen' was based on a play, the sequel will be entirely original. Of course the protagonists will be blind. But this time the producer won't," Gaurang concludes.