NEW DELHI: Writer-turned-director Rumi Jafry had finalised Akshay Kumar for his second film Life Partner, but says the star, who is known to charge exorbitant fees, backed out of the project on monetary issues.

“Akshay had a huge role in Life Partner. He had already said yes to the role and all dates were fixed. He was equally excited but due to price issues between him and the producers Abbas-Mustan he backed out of the project,” said Jafry. “I also discussed the matter with Abbas-bhai but he said ‘to let him go’ as they could not settle on a price. We then roped in Govinda and luckily the role has come out very well,” the director added. The film marks Abbas-Mustan’s entry as producers for filmmakers other than themselves.