Aankhen 2: Anil, Arshad, Ileana join Big B and Arjun Rampal

Anil Kapoor, Arshad Warsi and Ileana D’Cruz have joined megastar Amitabh Bachchan and Arjun Rampal in “Aankhen 2”.

The official announcement of “Aankhen 2”, a sequel to 2002 ‘Aankhen’, continues to feature Amitabh Bachchan and Arjun Rampal. Joining the duo will be Anil Kapoor, Arshad Warsi and Ileana D’Cruz.

Anees Bazmee will be stepping in as the director. The first “Aankhen” had Vipul Shah helming the film.

The official announcement of the sequel was made at an event here.

“This will be different from “Aankhen” and it will be bigger and better. The basic premise will be same,” Anees told reporters at the launch event here.

“Aankhen” tells the story of Vijay Singh Rajput (Bachchan), a hard-working but temperamental man. When Vijay loses his mind and goes on a violent rampage beating up another employee, he is subsequently fired. He decides to take vengeance by organising a heist, and having the same bank robbed by three blind men (Arjun, Akshay and Paresh Rawal) as no one will suspect them.

Bazmee revealed “Aankhen 2” will have elements of thriller and humour.

It’s the first time Anees is directing Bachchan in a film and he is quite elated about it. “It’s my first film with him (Bachchan). I have always seen his films, admired his work I have been a fan of him. I am grateful to the team of “Aankhen 2” that I got the opportunity to direct him.”

Echoing similar sentiments, Arshad, who made his acting debut with Bachchan’s production house, said he is grateful and privileged to be sharing screen space with Big B.

The 73-year-old megastar said he will miss the original cast of “Aankhen” but was excited to be working with the new team.

Arshad, who is a new entrant in “Aankhen 2”, chose not to reveal details about his role. “Everyone is stealing money (referring to basic premise of the story),” he added.

Even Big B was also not willing to share details about his role in the sequel.

Producer Gaurang Doshi thanked Big B for coming on board for “Aankhen 2”. “Without his (Bachchan) support I wouldn’t have been able to make a comeback to films.”

Anil Kapoor, Arjun Rampal and Ileana were not present at the launch event today due to their prior commitments. A digital casino was put on stage to mark the launch of the sequel. Arshad danced on the title track of “Aankhen” and Bachchan, too, enacted a few scenes.