Not Akshay Kumar, Arnold Schwarzenegger Was The First Choice For 2.0: Shankar

Filmmaker S Shankar reveals 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. Rajinikanth will be back in the role of a 'Chitti' in the second installment the mega-hit Robot, which is slated to be released on November 29.

"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," Shankar said at the recent press conference.

"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.

Shankar is confident that the film would connect with everyone as it has an international theme. The technology, he said, was better than the previous film and that was the reason they decided to title the film as 2.0.

On a related note, when Akshay was asked to share his experience about working with Rajinikanth, he had said, "Once, we were just sitting on the set, waiting for the next shot and he brushed some dirt off his pants. The entire unit was awestruck by how stylishly he did it. Everything he does is so stylish. I even enjoyed getting punched by him."