Abhay Deol turns producer

Abhay Deol and Nikhil Dwivedi have replaced Akshaye Khanna and Emraan Hashmi in Basra. The film was to have been originally produced by Nikhil Advani. Now Abhay is producing this edgy dark thriller, which deals with drugs and human trafficking. Navdeep Singh will direct it.

A source connected to the film reveals, "Basra had Akshaye Khanna and Emraan Hashmi in the lead but Navdeep didn't see eye-to-eye with producers Nikhil Advani and Sunil Manchanda. Abhay who has worked with Navdeep in Manorama 6 Feet Under was excited about the film and offered to produce it. And that's when the cast changed as well.

The film is called Basra because it shows how the raw materials are routed to Iraq and converted to pure drugs and then sent back. A form of heroin is called Basra. Abhay will now be seen in the role that Akshaye was to do now Nikhil has been cast in the role of Emraan Hashmi. Basra film will be shot in Iraq -- a first for a Hindi film. The film deals with narcotics and human trafficking at the grass-root level and the two actors will play the part of law enforcement officers from different agencies.

It is learnt that Deol took the title of Basra from the previous producers but the story has undergone major change since." Advani confirms his exit from the project, "Yes. Unfortunately we are not producing the film anymore."