Sonakshi bows out, it’s Shruti Haasan with John in Welcome sequel

Anees Bazmi’s Welcome Back, the sequel to Welcome, has finally found a heroine. First it was Sonakshi Sinha who was almost on. Then there was insistent talk of Asin bagging the role. But it’s Kamal Haasan’s daughter Shruti Haasan who has finally got the role opposite John. Shruti who had a tame luckless beginning in Hindi films with Soham Shah’s dud Luck opposite Imran Khan, seems poised for a second innings in Bollywood after her two back-to-back antithetical much-appreciated roles in Ramaiyya Vastavaiya and D Day. Says Anees, “Yes, we’ve signed Shruti finally. She seems the right choice for the role opposite John Abraham. I wanted someone pretty spontaneous and with good comic timing. Shruti has all of this.” About Sonakshi and Asin, Anees says, “Asin was only under consideration. We never got down to signing her. So I don’t know how news of her bagging the role got out. As for Sonakshi, yes, we were keen to sign her. She too was enthusiastic. But she could only give me partial dates. I wanted the leading lady in Welcome Back to give us the complete dates required for the film.” This would be the first time John would be paired with Shruti Haasan. “I think fresh screen pairs make a lot of difference to audiences’ interest level,” opines Anees.