Upala KBR (DNA; March 17, 2017)

A project starring Akshay Kumar had been announced by Divya Khosla Kumar as early as mid last year. The film, directed by Divya, was to go on floors in September. So, when he signed on to play a late music mogul (Divya’s father-in-law) in an upcoming biopic, directed by Subhash Kapoor, one wondered what had happened to that other project. Here’s what we know. According to one source, “Akshay was signed on for Divya’s film, a romantic action thriller, a year ago, at a signing amount of Rs 5 crore. At the time, AK had liked the concept and given his nod. But for whatever reason, the script didn’t shape up to his expectations. Changes were requested to be made, Akshay didn’t like Divya’s handling of the film, but went along with it for a year.”

The source continues, “Meanwhile, Jolly LLB 2, directed by Kapoor, released and went on to became a box-office hit. A decision was taken to change the project itself and the director as well.” The producer (Divya’s husband and the music mogul’s son) had been wanting to make a biopic on his father for a while. Sensing an opportunity, he pitched the idea of the biopic to AK, adjusting the signing amount for the biopic.

Reveals the source, “When the producer asked Akshay if he would act in and as Mogul, the actor agreed. But he had two conditions — one that he would be paid a whopper of an acting fee and that Subhash would direct it. The producer agreed and Mogul got started. Divya’s film has been put on the backburner for now — till the time she gets a new actor.”