The ensemble comedy will roll by the year-end
Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 27, 2019)

Mirror was the first to report (March 14) that after co-directing Entertainment and Housefull 3 with brother Farhad, Sajid Samji is gearing up for his debut as a solo director. Back then, the film was still in the scripting stage and was said to be on the lines of the 2013 comic caper, the David Dhawan directorial, Chashme Baddoor. Now, we have learnt that the director has locked his script. Titled Chashme Baddoor 2, the romcom features Sunny Singh of Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety fame, and possibly Fatima Sana Shaikh.

According to a source close to the development, Sajid was initially in talks with Jacqueline Fernandez for the female lead but things didn’t work out. “The idea was to have a fresh pairing, and after Sunny who is being appreciated for his special appearance in the recently released De De Pyaar De came on board, the makers are now in talks with Fatima and hopeful of getting her nod,” informed the source.

The ensemble comedy is expected to go on the floors by the year-end and will be produced by Zee Studios. “It is currently in prep with the team zeroing in on the locations and getting the logistics in place,” the source added. Apart from Sunny and Fatima, the makers are looking to cast a couple of more actors.

Chashme Baddoor was a remake of Sai Paranjpye’s yesteryear classic Chashme Buddoor which revolved around three roomies, Farooque Shaikh, Ravi Baswani and Rakesh Bedi, and Miss Chamko (Deepti Naval) who moves into the neighbourhood. Featuring Ali Zafar, Taapsee Pannu, Rishi Kapoor, Divyendu Sharma and Siddharth, it opened in 2013, 32 years after Chashme Buddoor which re-released on the same Friday. The sequel though an original subject will stay true to the franchise.