Bobby Deol has had to back out of his role in Apoorva Lakhia’s Mission Istanbul. Lakhia said, “We were supposed to go on the floors on Oct 1 but because of Ramzan and Eid, the date got pushed up with the result that Bobby can no longer do the project. It’s sad because he was the first one I signed.”
Zayed Khan will be taking over Bobby’s role in the film. Lakhia is happy with the new casting and says it will bring a new flavor to the character. “I’ve seen a couple of his films. He’s young and cocky. We can play on that. He plays a young inexperienced guy in a mature world.”
The film which also stars Vivek Oberoi, Suniel Shetty, Shabbir Ahluwalia, newcomer Niket Dheer, Shreya Saran and Abhishek Bachchan (making a special appearance in a song and dance number) is being shot entirely in Turkey.
The shooting schedule is for 60 days in Turkey at a time. According to Lakhia, “Mission Istanbul is a very expensive film. My producer Suniel Shetty has already spent plenty in pre-production. We’ve already been to Turkey several times. It’s one of the most amazing shooting spots. I’m looking forward to it.” However, the shooting must be completed before the end of November because by that time the days will be too short and too cold.
We will be looking forward to Mission Istanbul as well and cannot wait to see what this talented director and cast has in store for us when the film comes to the Cineplex.
