MUMBAI:

Bobby Deol, currently riding the wave of success with his lauded performances in Jhoom Barabar Jhoom and Apne, is out of Apoorva Lakhia’s Mission Istanbul. Zayed Khan has stepped into his place.

“I’m happy Zayed has stepped in. I guess he brings a different mood to the role from Bobby,” Lakhia said.

This is Lakhia’s first film with Zayed.

“I’ve seen a couple of his films. He’s young and cocky. We can play on that. He plays a young inexperienced guy in a mature world,” he added.

Explaining the reason behind this change in the cast, Lakhia said, “We were supposed to go on the floors on August 1 but because of Ramzaan and Eid the date got pushed up with the result that Bobby can no longer do the project. It’s sad because he was the first one I signed.”

Apart from Zayed, the final cast for Mission Istanbul comprises of Viveik Oberoi, Suniel Shetty, Shabbir Ahluwalia, newcomer Niket Dheer (actor Pankaj Dheer’s son) and Shreya Saran, who was last seen in Aawarapan. Abhishek Bachchan will also make an appearance in the film. “How can I ever make a film without Abhishek?” said Lakhia, known to stick to a film’s budget.