Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 5, 2017)

Mirror (January 31) had earlier reported that John Abraham would play a cop in Amar Kaushik’s film tentatively titled Chor Nikal Ke Bhaaga, which also features Tamannaah Bhatia as an air hostess. We have now learnt that Rajkummar Rao has come on board the romantic thriller that is expected to go on the floors this July.

“My character is in a relationship with Tamannaah’s and works for a company in Dubai. He keeps flitting in and out of Mumbai. It’s an engaging story and a character that I haven’t played before,” informs Rajkummar, who is presently shooting for Ratna Sinha’s romcom Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana.

The actor admits that he really liked Amar’s short film, Aaba, the only Indian film in competition at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival. It won the Special Prize of Generation Kplus International Jury for Best Short Film. “Raj is extremely talented, I’m a huge fan. It’s a challenging role and I had to really persuade him to do the film,” informs Prerna Arora, who is producing the film with John, Arjun N Kapoor and Raj Kumar Gupta.

The film’s team met recently. “John and I share the same cinematic vision and I am looking forward to work with him,” says Rajkummar and adds, “We will be meeting for reading sessions and workshops a month before shooting starts. I’ll have to gain some muscle and will start working on that after finishing Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana.”