After the grand success of ‘Shootout at Lokhandwala’ director Apoorva Lakhia is all set to make a thriller named ‘Mission Istanbul’, but the movie already seems to be making news with its numerous casting upheavals.
It all started with Bobby Deol opting out and replaced by Zayed Khan. Apoorva faced date issues with Tushar Kapoor for a role in the film. There are rumours that Sagarika Ghatge, who played Preeti Sabharwal in ‘Chak De! India’ has been signed for the movie as one of the main leads but Apoorva flatly denies the same and says,
“Not at all,” said Lakhia. “I don’t know where that rumour started. Sagarika isn’t in ‘Mission Istanbul’. The only female lead we’ve finalised is Shreya Saran (recently seen with Emran Hashmi in ‘Awarapan’). The other girl is still to be finalised”
The cast finalized so far for Mission Istanbul is Zayed Khan, Suniel Shetty, Viviek Oberoi, Shabbir Ahluwaila, Shreya Sharan and newcomer Niketan Dheer, who is character-actor Pankaj Dheer’s son and quite a discovery. There are reports that Lakhia may robe in Abhishek Bachchan to give a guest appearance in the movie.
With all these issues battling the start of the movie, Apoorva will be hoping that the cast is finalized as soon as possible so that the much anticipated movie can undergo production.
