‘MY RELATIONSHIP WITH AKSHAY GOES BEYOND DOING ONE FILM’

Vipul Shah rubbishes reports suggesting that actor Akshay Kumar has opted out of his film

Filmmaker Vipul Shah (right) is set to make his directorial comeback after a hiatus of seven years. His last outing as a director was Action Replayy (2010) with Akshay Kumar, (left) the star with whom he has made six films. Ever since news broke that Vipul’s next film will be titled Namastey England, it is being talked about as the sequel to his 2007 hit Namastey London, also starring Akshay. However, the filmmaker refutes this, and says that it’s a new script and story. Furthermore, there are reports suggesting that Vipul was keen on working with Akshay again, but that the actor has opted out of Namastey England because he wants to do meaningful cinema and not take up masala films.

In an exclusive chat with Hindustan Times, Vipul says this is not so, and that there’s a different reason for Akshay not being in this film. “It’s preposterous to suggest that I’d replace Akshay. People need to know that we’ve been together for the past 16 years. Our relationship goes beyond doing one film,” says Vipul.

The reason is that Akshay is extremely busy with other films, though he and Vipul had together ideated on Namastey England. The filmmaker is now progressing with the project after getting the green light from Akshay on using the title. “When I called Akshay to ask if we can use the title of the film, he said, ‘Arre Vipul yaar, what is the issue?’” Meaning, he had no problem with this request from a long-time friend.

We’ve been together for 16 years. People should not think that one film can cause any problem between us

VIPUL SHAH, FILMMAKER

PHOTO:YOGEN SHAH