Prabhu Deva has finally been roped in to direct Dabangg 3, the third installment of the Salman Khan films, in which he plays the cop Chulbul Pandey. The film was initially supposed to be directed by Salman’s brother Arbaaz, but he chose to step down from the director’s chair.
“Arbaaz wiped his hands off the franchise after directing the second installment. In fact, he was not supposed to direct the second Dabangg film either. Arbaaz came on board only after there was a fallout with Abhinav Kashyap, who had directed Dabangg,” a source close to the actor told DNA India.
With Arbaaz out, Salman reportedly approached Prabhu Deva to direct the film. The two had earlier collaborated for 2009’s second highest grossing Bollywood film,Wanted – the Hindi remake of the Telugu film Pokiri (2006).
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While Prabhu Deva did not confirm or deny the news, he told DNA that nobody can say “no” to Salman Khan. “I will do any film that Salman sir asks me to,” he said.
Prabhu Deva’s next directorial is Karuppu Raja Vellai Raja, with Vishal, Karthi, and Sayyeshha. As an actor, he is also a part of Karthik Subbaraj’s Mercury, in which he plays the villain. He is currently shooting Gulebagavali with Hansika Motwani. He will also star in Remo D’Souza’s third installment of ABCD: Any Body Can Dance.