In March 2024, after years of uncertainty over its fate, Boney Kapoor finally announced the sequel to his 2005 hit comedy No Entry. With Anees Bazmee set to return as the director, No Entry 2 was announced with an all-new younger star cast — Boney’s son Arjun Kapoor, Varun Dhawan, and Diljit Dosanjh, replacing the OG trio — Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor, and Fardeen Khan. But now, the film has entered casting limbo following the reported exit of Varun, months after Diljit walked out of the movie. However, the film’s team and Varun’s team haven’t officially confirmed his exit yet.
OG cast replaced
After the announcement, Boney had quipped that Anil was upset over him not being cast in the sequel, No Entry Mein Entry, given the first film is a huge milestone in his career. “Unfortunately, we cannot repeat the same star cast. I waited long enough, but everybody had their own reasons and I respect those reasons. So, it has been freshly packaged now,” Boney told News18 a couple of years ago.
Anees admitted that while Anil’s reasons to get upset are valid, it’s not caused any rift between him and his elder brother, Boney. “I feel Anil Kapoor getting angry is justified because he was the main hero of No Entry. He put in a lot of hard work in that film, not only as an actor, but he has walked shoulder to shoulder while making the film.”
Anil Kapoor and Fardeen Khan in No Entry.
“Anil ji and Boney ji are brothers and I have seen their love. So him being upset will be for how long is a different matter. But they aren’t fighting over it. They can’t fight. He has the right to be upset, if you consider someone as yours and if you think they have done something wrong, you have the right to be upset. I respect Anil ji and Boney ji equally,” added the director.
In an interview to SCREEN last year, Anees admitted he wanted to make the sequel with the original cast, so much so that he even got Fardeen to improve his physique. “But when a film happens, it comes with its own kundali. No matter how much you plan, destiny plays a huge role. The pain of not having Anil, Salman, Fardeen, Lara and everyone in the sequel will remain. But the circumstances are such that whatever the best we could do in these times, we’ve tried to do that,” explained Anees.
Troubles over the new cast
Anees also expressed his excitement of working with the new cast — Diljit, Varun, and Arjun, with whom he has collaborated on the 2017 comedy Mubarakan. “Luckily, Arjun and Varun are very good friends. And I met Diljit Dosanjh recently. He’s a very cool guy. So, they all have a great tuning with each other,” said Anees. He confirmed to SCEEEN last August that Diljit is indeed a part of the sequel, amid rumours around his exit following his trolling over Sardaar Ji 3.
A section of the internet had objected to Diljit appearing alongside Pakistani actor Hania Aamir in his Punjabi comedy threequel, Sardaar Ji 3. But Diljit confirmed in an Instagram Reel shared in July that he’s a part of not only No Entry Mein Entry, but also Anurag Singh’s period war drama Border 2. After the blockbuster success of the film earlier this year, producer Bhushan Kumar of T-Series claimed that they don’t do casting based on online trolls.
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However, just next month, Boney confirmed that Diljit has opted out of No Entry 2. But he claimed that the reasons are “date issues”, which were still being ironed out, and not “creative differences”, as reported online. Diljit, also a global popstar, is currently busy with his Aura tour in Canada and the US, and will soon begin promoting his upcoming romantic drama Main Vaapas Aaunga, helmed by Imtiaz Ali, slated to release in cinemas on June 12.
The latest development, as per multiple reports doing the rounds, is that following Diljit, Varun Dhawan has also exited No Entry 2 now. While the film’s team and the actor’s team couldn’t confirm the development officially, if that happens to be the case, Arjun Kapoor is the only actor who remains in the sequel now.
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As per some reports, Shahid Kapoor has also been approached to play a part in No Entry 2, although it’s not clear whether the offer is to replace the part played by Diljit or Varun. Meanwhile, Anees Bazmee is busy finishing his next directorial, starring Akshay Kumar and Vidya Balan, which is slated to release in cinemas on December 4.
