Did Abhinav Kashyap give up 'Dabangg' sequel for Shah Rukh Khan?

Though Dabangg director Abhinav Kashyap has stated that actor Shah Rukh Khan is not the reason he left his launch pad, sources claim otherwise. The director is apparently spending most of his time networking with King Khan for his forthcoming film. It is learned that the film-maker is keen to launch a film with Shah Rukh at exactly the same time that he was slated to direct the Dabangg sequel. Abhinav apparently moved out of Dabangg with his team of assistant directors. One of them, Himanshu Mehra, is the co-producer of his forthcoming film.

“Abhinav had kept the Khan brothers — Arbaaz and Salman — in the dark about his plans for his own film. He didn’t want to shoot the film at the allotted dates. It then came to light that he was having meetings with Shah Rukh for an action thriller. His friend Sunil Vohra brought in a corporate giant as the producer, and has already had at least three meetings to get Shah Rukh on board. The actor’s yet to finalise the project, and Abhinav is eagerly waiting for the final nod,” informs a source, adding that the film is tentatively titled Project 18.  However, an official from the production house confirms that the film is on even though Shah Rukh has not signed on the dotted line.

When contacted, Arbaaz Khan said, “The official reason that Abhinav gave me was that the film is being done too soon. But I have to go ahead as soon as I get the dates from Salman. I’ve heard of talks of him having received an SMS from us that prompted him to break off, on the contrary I was the one who got the SMS of him not doing the film.”

But what of the fact that he ditched Salman’s film for SRK? “Whether he ditched the film for someone else’s film is a question that he can answer best. For me, Abhinav is a closed chapter! It’s a good thing that we had our differences now, and not when the film was being made,” says Khan, who will be making his directorial debut with the Dabangg sequel.