Ileana D’Cruz, Diana Penty in running for role opposite Akshay Kumar

Just a few days ago, BizAsia reported that Nargis Fakhri had been ousted from the Akshay Kumar-Himesh Reshamiyya production ��Khiladi 786�۪. Word was that the film�۪s makers felt that Fakhri looked far too modern and chic to play a simple Indian girl. Moreover, because the female lead plays Mithun Chakraborty�۪s character’s sister in the film, the producers were after an actress that at least looked like she could pull off that element of the role too. Obviously, since Fakhri’s exit the film’s producers are in a dilemma as to which actress to cast instead as the film is set to roll in less than a month.

An article in Mid-Day reports that the toss up is between Telugu star Ileana D�۪Cruz (who debuts in ��Barfee�۪ with Ranbir Kapoor), and Diana Penty who�۪s being launched in ��Cocktail�۪ with Saif Ali Khan.

Friends of Ileana claim that Nargis was never supposed to be in the film in the first place and that Ileana was always the first choice for it.

On the other hand, the makers also feel that Penty will be good for the part especially since she’s been getting a lot of positive feedback since the promos of ��Cocktail�۪ went on air.

���Yes, we have been getting feelers from Ileana�۪s and Diana�۪s end. We�۪ll finalise the heroine in a few days,�۝ said a source to Mid-Day.

Watch this space to find out which one of the two newbie actresses ultimately manages to bag the coveted role and gets to star opposite Akshay.