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In the earlier article about the Robot franchise, we revealed the journey of making India’s most successful science fiction film and how Shankar was in talks with superstars like Kamal Haasan and Shah Rukh Khan before finally getting Rajinikanth on board. 8 years after the release of Robot, the industry is gearing up for 2.0 which stars Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar in lead. The casting process of 2.0 is as interesting as it was for Robot.
After the release of I, when Shankar decided to take the Robot franchise forward, he approached Rajinikanth with the script, however, the superstar wasn’t too confident to do the film owing to his health issues. After the narration, Rajinikanth recommended Aamir Khan’s name for the character of Chitti to Shankar. The director was also quite charged up to work with Aamir Khan on the film as the presence of Khan would give the film a pan-India reach. Shankar met Aamir Khan with his team of writers and narrated the script of 2.0. While Aamir Khan was blown away with Shankar’s conviction and belief in the subject, he couldn’t visualize himself as a Robot.
“I am a big fan of Shankar and I was offered the film. It is a blockbuster and I am sure it is going to break all records. I was offered Rajinikanth’s role in the film, but I could only see Rajinikanth in the role. I could not see myself. When I used to think of the film and scenes, Rajinikanth used to come in my head. That’s when I told Shankar that I won’t be able to do it,” said Aamir in an interview.
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After Rajinikanth refusing the film, Shankar was planning to cast Aamir Khan and Arnold in the film. The director was in advanced talks with the Hollywood action star, who in an interview also revealed that he would love to do a film with Shankar. However, after Aamir Khan’s refusal, things didn’t quite work out with Arnold as well due to remuneration issues and the deal fell apart.