Bazmee on wanting to tap into Abraham’s comic timing as they reunite for Pagalpanti
Sonia Lulla (MID-DAY; November 24, 2018)

His 2017 comedy Mubarakan behind him, Anees Bazmee has now trained his sights on Pagalpanti featuring John Abraham.

Talking to mid-day, Bazmee reveals that a reunion on a comedy was pending since they first got together for Welcome Back (2015). “John didn’t have too many comic scenes in that film. Yet, in the ones he did, I noticed that he shines in comedy. It was while working together on Welcome Back that he expressed his wish to do a full-fledged comedy with me,” says Bazmee, who will soon head to London for the film’s recce.

With rumours doing the rounds about Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar walking into and out of his upcoming films — the second instalments of No Entry (2005) and Singh Is Kinng (2008), respectively — we seek the filmmaker’s intervention on clearing the air. “No Entry was a good film. I came up with a good idea for part two, and have finished writing the script. I’m now seeking a go-ahead from Boney ji [Kapoor, producer]. As soon as he tells me about the cast, we can roll with it. As for Singh Is Kinng, there’s enough scope to make another edition of the film, but there’s no further development there.”

What he is, however, excited about is the next instalment of Aankhen 2 which sees Amitabh Bachchan reprise his role from the 2002 outing. “As far as his character is concerned, the film takes off from where he left it.”