Actors Parineeti Chopra and Arjun Kapoor were not filmmaker Vipul Amrutlal Shah's first choice for upcoming film Namaste England. The filmmaker wanted to cast Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif initially, who had headlined the first installment - Namaste London, Vipul Amrutlal Shah told news agency PTI. When he approached Akshay Kumar with the role, the actor turned down the offer due to prior commitments. When Parineeti's role was offered to Katrina Kaif, the actress felt that "people may not accept her in the character". "Katrina could not have been an Indian desi girl. We both did speak about it. And she said this role is something that people may not accept her in. I was going to do the film with Akshay but his dates were blocked for two years so he recommended I go to another actor," PTI quoted Vipul Amrutlal Shah as saying.
Namaste England filmmaker revealed that after he approached Arjun Kapoor for the role, he agreed to be part of it after listening to the script. "I met Arjun and I told him I was going to do this with Akshay but he doesn't have dates. He heard the script and agreed to do it and that's how he came into the picture. I wanted someone desi who can also look modern and who has got a certain honesty in his face. He was the most suited boy for the part. Parineeti was already part of it when I was going to do it with Akshay," the filmmaker added.
Namaste England is the sequel of 2007's superhit film Namaste London, which featured Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif. Namaste England is Arjun and Parineeti's second film together. They also have Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar in the line-up. Parineeti was Arjun's first heroine when he debuted in 2012 with Ishaqzaade.
Namaste England releases on October 18.
