Akshay Kumar: Taapsee Pannu's performance in 'Baby' inspired 'Naam Shabana'

Akshay Kumar

Akshay Kumar

Noida: Actor Akshay Kumar says the way Taapsee Pannu performed in "Baby" inspired the makers to come up with spin-off, "Naam Shabana," based on the actress' character in the spy thriller.

The cast and crew of the movie produced by Neeraj Pandey was in the NCR today to wrap up the shoot of the movie and filmed some fight sequences.

"Taapsee did a tremendous job in 'Pink'. I saw her doing the fights in 'Baby' and the kind of action she did, I have seen no female do it with so much perfection. It was very inspiring for me to see her. A lot of inspiration for 'Naam Shabana' came from the way Taapsee performed in 'Baby'," Akshay told reporters during a press conference.

Akshay, 49, played the lead role in the 2015 film, but in the spin-off he will be just making a special appearance.

The "Pink" actress, who will be seen doing some hardcore stunts in the Shivam Nair-directed film, said Shabana is nothing like her real self, but she enjoyed understanding the psyche of the character.

"This is by far that one character with which I don't identify at all. But I am a director's actor and do whatever I am asked to. It was interesting to figure out the psyche behind the character. There is nothing common between me and Shabana," the 29-year-old actress said.

Taapsee said the growing trend of women centric films in Bollywood shows that the Indian film industry is on a progressive path.

"We are going in a good direction. There is at least one film in a month which revolves around women. And I hope a good film like 'Naam Shabana' will open gates for a lot more women oriented films."

Apart from Akshay, the movie also has cameos by Anupam Kher and Danny Denzongpa, who were also part of "Baby".

Manoj Bajpayee and south actor Prithviraj Sukumaran are the new additions to the cast.

The movie is scheduled to hit the theatres on March 31.