The debacle of Half Girlfriend (2017) notwithstanding, director Mohit Suri is looking forward to reuniting with Arjun Kapoor for Ek Villain 2. The filmmaker reveals that the thriller — also featuring John Abraham, Disha Patani and Tara Sutaria — will present Kapoor in a new light.

"When we were making Half Girlfriend, Arjun would keep saying that a Bollywood hero should have an action film in his filmography. So, he is kicked about Ek Villain 2. He wants to play the quintessential bad boy; he did that in Ishaqzaade [2012] and it worked wonders for him. After his good-boy act in Half Girlfriend, it will be fun to explore this side to him," says Suri. For the uninitiated, the director had initially cast Aditya Roy Kapur for the sequel to the 2014 thriller of the same name. However, the actor exited the project due to creative differences.

Suri hopes to take the film on floors by January 2021. "Even though the story is set in India, we cannot shoot here due to the Coronavirus crisis. We are planning to shoot abroad as the situation is relatively under control. We are in the process of zeroing in on the locations," adds the filmmaker.