Did you know Rajinikanth was supposed to fight veteran Hollywood action star Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2.0instead of Akshay Kumar? The 71-year-old actor was director S Shankar's first choice for the role of anti-hero in 2.0, reported news agency PTI. Speaking at a press conference in Mumbai, Shankar revealed that the film's team had approached Mr Schwarzenegger with the details of the role and even dates were also assigned to the actor but the collaboration couldn't be finalised because of contractual issues. "We had thought of casting Arnold. We had talked and allotted dates also. But somehow things did not work out as the contracts of Hollywood and India are contradictory," PTI quoted S Shankar as saying.
"So we thought of looking at a good cast from the Indian film industry," Shankar added during the press conference. Talking about how Akshay Kumar came on board for the role, he said while they were on the hunt for casting the 2.0 villain, Akshay was in touch with Lyca Productions (producers of 2.0) for the Hindi remake of Kaththi and that's when the 51-year-old actor was heavily recommended for the role. "Everyone told me to consider Akshay and I also thought it would be nice. I narrated the story to him and he said yes," said Shankar.
In 2.0 Rajinikath returns in dual roles of scientist Dr Vaseegaran and his creation robot Chhiti. The much talked-about villain, played by Akshay Kumar, is a bird-man like scientistt named Dr Richard. The high octane action sequences in the film have been choreographed by action directors such as Steve Griffin, Nick Powell and Silva. The film also stars Amy Jackson.
Made on a budget of Rs 500 crore, 2.0 has reportedly recovered as much as Rs 370 crore ahead of the film's release by selling satellite and digital rights. 2.0 is all set to hit screens on November 29.
(With PTI inputs)
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