Vipul Shah approached Akshay Kumar for ‘Namaste England’

With the release of ‘Namaste England’ just days away, filmmaker Vipul Shah has confirmed that he had initially approached Akshay Kumar for the film before roping in Arjun Kapoor as the lead.

For those unaware, ‘Namaste England’ is the sequel to the 2007 hit ‘Namastey London’, which starred Kumar and Katrina Kaif.

Talking to Deccan Chronicle, Shah said, “I was going to do this film with Akshay but unfortunately, his dates were blocked. So he requested me to approach someone else and assured that we’ll reconnect for another film on a later date.”

He added, “I went to Arjun and with all honesty, I told him that Akshay was my first choice but dates were not working out. Arjun liked the script that’s how he came on board.”

Shah also explained why Kaif could not be a part of the film. He said, “Katrina could not have been a part of this because it’s a story of a desi girl. I spoke to her about this and explained to her why we cannot work on this project and she understood.”