‘2.0’: Not Akshay, this Hollywood actor was director Shankar’s first choice for villain

Director S Shankar said he had approached The Terminator star Arnold Schwarzenegger to play the antagonist in “2.0” but things did not work out and the role finally went to Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar.

Shankar said at a press conference, “We had thought of casting Arnold. We had talked and allotted dates also. But somehow things did not work out as the contracts of Hollywood and India are contradictory. So we thought of looking at a good cast from the Indian film industry.”

The director said Lyca (producers of 2.0) and Akshay were in talks for a remake of a film called “Kathi” in Hindi.

“Everyone told me to consider Akshay and I also thought it would be nice. I narrated the story to him and he said yes,” the director said.

Rajinikanth will be back as ‘Chitti’ in the second instalment of the ‘Robot’, which is slated to be released on November 29.