Asin's dad becomes deal breaker

Recently what turned out to be Asin's loss became Shruti Haasan's gain, as the latter was roped in for the sequel of Anees Bazmee's Welcome. If rumours are to be believed, Asin's father is apparently to be blamed for her ouster from the project. Insiders say Asin's father Joseph Thottumkal had demanding a whopping Rs 1 crore plus fee for the actress and refused to budge from the figure during negotiation efforts.

Says a source close to the film, "After Sonakshi Sinha opted out of the project, Anees had finalised Asin. But her father proved to be a problem. He refused to negotiate the price he had initially quoted for his daughter and that proved to be the deal breaker." Shruti incidentally came well within the makers' budget and she replaced Asin.

Anees says, "Asin was one of the heroines we had been considering as I had worked with her in Ready. We signed Shruti as she fits the bill perfectly. We have no issues with Asin." A friend of the actress however denies the buzz and blames Asin's ouster on date issues. She says, "It's true that there was some going back and forth between Asin's dad and the producers.

But it was only over date issues as the actress is also supposed to shoot for Umesh Shukla's film in October. Asin didn't want them to suffer because of it, so she told her father to convey the same to Anees bhai. Asin is extremely fond of the director. The two will work together again in the future." Asin's spokesperson says, "Money has never been an issue between friends. Aneesji is a dear friend. It is just unfortunate that the dates became an issue."u00a0