Bye England, Namastey Canada: Akshay Kumar's Alleged Refusal Changes Film Title

New Delhi: We were not yet over Akshay Kumar's 2007 Namastey London when filmmaker Vipul Amrutlal Shah announced its sequel, Namastey England, starring Arjun Kapoor and Parineeti Chopra. But now the film will be called Namastey Canada because Akshay refused to give the film title's intellectual property rights to Mr Shah, a source told mid-day. The source also added that Akshay wants to produce and star in Namastey England later. "Both, Akshay and Vipul own the Intellectual Property (IP) rights to the Namastey series, and when the filmmaker approached him for the rights, the actor refused to part with the titles Namastey London 2 or Namastey England. He told Vipul that he may want to produce and act in Namastey England later. So, the filmmaker had no choice but to change the title to Namastey Canada," mid-day quoted a source as saying.

mid-day's source also said that the original plan was to cast Sonakshi Sinha opposite Akshay Kumar in Namastey London sequel but "Akshay got busy with other projects." Akshay Kumar's Toilet: Ek Prem Katha and 2.0 are lined up for release in August 2017 and January 2018, respectively while Padman and Gold are work-in-progress.

Speaking to mid-day Vipul Shah said: "Unfortunately, I can't talk about it right now. You will have to bear with me for a couple of days till a few things get sorted out. I will make an announcement soon."

The shooting of Namastey Cananda will now reportedly take place in North America instead of the UK. Parineeti Chopra was last seen in Meri Pyari Bindu with actor Ayushmann Khurrana while Arjun Kapoor is promoting Mubarkan, which hits the screens on July 28.

We look forward to Vipul Shah's Namastey London sequel and hope it matches the set standards.