Asin out of `Welcome` sequel!

Asin Thottumkal has reportedly been ousted from Anees Bazmee’s ‘Welcome’ sequel.

Zee Media Bureau/ Harpreet Kaur

New Delhi: Asin Thottumkal, who has starred in successful movies like ‘Ghajini’, ‘Housefull 2’, ‘Ready’ etc has reportedly been ousted from Anees Bazmee’s ‘Welcome’ sequel. It is said that the South Indian actress` father Joseph Thottumkal is to be blamed for her exit from the movie. According to a tabloid, the 27-year-old actress’ father refused to compromise when it came to the fee for the film. He reportedly demanded nothing less than Rs 1 crore for her daughter, and because of this obstinacy Shruti Hassan was signed in place of Asin. “After Sonakshi Sinha opted out of the project, Anees had finalised Asin. But her father proved to be a problem. He refused to negotiate the price he had initially quoted for his daughter and that proved to be the deal breaker,” a source close to the film revealed. On the other hand, Anees stated that he had no problems in casting the ‘Ghajini’ star, but instead Shruti Hassan suited the role more. “Asin was one of the heroines we had been considering as I had worked with her in Ready. We signed Shruti as she fits the bill perfectly. We have no issues with Asin,” Anees said. In contrast to Anees` statement a close friend of Asin revealed that the real problem was date issues. “It’s true that there was some going back and forth between Asin’s dad and the producers. But it was only over date issues as the actress is also supposed to shoot for Umesh Shukla’s film in October. Asin didn’t want them to suffer because of it, so she told her father to convey the same to Anees bhai. Asin is extremely fond of the director. The two will work together again in the future,” Asin’s friend said.