Race 2 to be shot in Turkey and Cyprus

Now that Players is ready to release, director duo Abbas-Mustan can focus on the sequel to their hit action-thriller Race (2008), the shoot for which has already flagged off in Mumbai.

Now that Players is ready to release, director duo Abbas-Mustan can focus on the sequel to their hit action-thriller Race (2008), the shoot for which has already flagged off in Mumbai.

“Race 2 is in the same genre and will be made on as grand a scale as the original. We will be shooting in Turkey and Cyprus next. The story has plenty of twists and turns and every character will have gray shades,” asserts Abbas.

After months of deliberations and negotiations, the casting has finally been locked. The film will see Anil Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan and Bipasha Basu from the original. Deepika Padukone and John Abraham have replaced Katrina Kaif and Akshaye Khanna, whose characters were killed off in the earlier film. Abhishek Bachchan also stars in it. The filmmakers were also keen on Sonakshi Sinha.

“If it had been a matter of 15 to 20 days, we would have managed. But we’re looking at filming over four to five months and Sonakshi starts work on Dabangg 2 in March. So we’ve settled for Jacqueline Fernandes instead,” says Mustan.

Meanwhile, the first teaser promo of their forthcoming film, Players has just been unveiled. Bipasha Basu and Sonam Kapoor are the glam quotient of the official Indian remake of The Italian Job. To top that, a Brazilian model was flown down, painted in gold and used exclusively for the posters and trailer. She doesn’t feature in the film. The unique promotional gimmick came from the marketing team since Players revolves around a heist and has the tagline ‘go for gold.’

“We weren’t present at the shoot since we were picturising the last song, but the response to the brainwave has been fabulous,” beams Abbas, admitting that a Players 2 could soon be underway. “We have an idea to take the caper forward and have already discussed it with Abhishek. We have started developing it and hopefully this sequel will flag off next year, soon after Players opens on January 6.”

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