John gropes in the dark
The actor to play a blind man in the Aankhen sequel starring Bachchan Sr
Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 22, 2015)

In 2006, producer Gaurang Doshi announced a sequel to the 2002 hit, Aankhen. When it came to the director it was a game of musical chairs with Vipul Amrutlal Shah who had directed the original making way for Sachin Pilgaonkar and finally Aneez Bazmee.

The Ready director who recently wrapped up his first sequel for the year, Welcome Back, has another one in the pipeline, Boney Kapoor's No Entry Mein Entry. "Aankhen 2 will roll in May and could start before the No Entry sequel because Salman bhai (Khan) doesn't have dates to spare. But No Entry Main Entry is a three-year old commitment and top priority. Whenever Salman has the time, I will be there, putting my friendship with him and Boney before any other commitment," promises Bazmee who has already finalised the script.

Meanwhile, Aankhen 2 will take off from where the original left. Based on a Gujarati play, Andhalo Pato, the original film had Amitabh Bachchan hatching a plan to rob the bank he worked for, with three blind men, Akshay Kumar, Arjun Rampal and Paresh Rawal. They succeed in their mission but then things go haywire.

"Part two will start from where Part one left off - Amitabh Bachchan getting released from jail and recruiting three new blind men, one of whom is John Abraham," reveals Anees.

Akshay and Arjun won't be back, their journey having ended with the first film, but Big B will return as the baddie. "He's the soul of the film," points out Anees, adding that Anil Kapoor has also been roped in for an interesting role.