Sona-Akki poised for a hattrick

There has been a lot of speculation about Akshay Kumar's leading lady in AR Murugadoss' Thupakki - his second Hindi film after Ghajini (2008). While certain reports suggested that PeeCee Junior, Parineeti may be the one to star opposite the actor, insiders revealed that Sonakshi Sinha may just have landed her third film with Akki.

While some media reports claimed that Parineeti may have landed the coveted role, her spokesperson confirmed, "She is not doing the film." As for Sonakshi, the chance to star with Akki for the third time was not without its share of near-misses.

Even while the casting was being finalised, there were rumours about Sonakshi being upset with Akki for not standing up for her candidature for the role despite she supporting his decision to boycott the promotions of Joker earlier in the year.

Says a source, "The fact that Sonakshi was possibly not the first choice for Thupakki did not agree with her since she had pinned her hopes on Akki. After Rowdy Rathore, Joker and the special appearance in Oh My God, she had hoped that Akki would reward her commitment by offering her the lead role in one of his biggest films this season. When that did not happen, she had retreated hurt."

But all the bitterness may now be a thing of the past. In fact, we learnt that Akki and Sonakshi saw the original Tamil action thriller together last week. Incidentally, not just Sonakshi, several other actresses had been pitching hard for the lead role opposite Akki, who will be seen as an Army officer in the film.