Over two years after they had first expressed their desire to remake the Hollywood action thriller, The Italian Job, director duo Abbas-Mustan will start their Indianised version this July. Refuting the trade buzz that the film has been shelved because Studio 18 believes that it is a commercially unviable project, Abbas asserts, “The film
is on.”

Shariq Patel, production head, Indian Film Company, the banner of the corporate major, adds, “We’re at teh point of finishing all the paperwork with Paramount. We meet Abbas-Mustan at least once every week for an update. Abhishek Bachchan has been signed on, Neil Mukesh has been confirmed. In another 10 days, we’ll get the final dates from the stars. We plan to roll by the third quarter at the latest.”

When asked if Katrina Kaif and Priyanka Chopra are being considered, Patel said, “We’re in talks, we’ll announce the names as soon as things are locked.” Buzz is that that the schedule will be planned according to Bachchan’s dates, since he’s the biggest star.

Declining to comment on the budget, Patel asserts, “We’ve locked the figures with Abbas-Mustan. It’s the biggest film from our studio. We will endeavour to make it as cost-effective as we can, but we won’t compromise on quality. Depending on when we begin filming, we will set the release date accordingly, that can be any time between next summer to Diwali.”