UTV denies purchasing 'Dabangg 2' rights; puts rumours to rest

UTV Motion Pictures has brushed aside rumours of purchasing the rights of the sequel to Salman Khan-Sonakshi Sinha starrer, 'Dabangg 2' for Rs 140 crore. 'Dabangg' became the highest grosser of 2010 and went on to bag several honours at different award ceremonies including the National award for wholesome entertainment. There were reports that Salman Khan's 'Dabangg 2' has been picked up by UTV Motion Pictures for Rs 140 crore including the print and advertising costs. But the top production house has rubbished all the talk. 'There have been irresponsible reports in certain sections of the media that UTV has bought the rights for 'Dabangg 2' for Rs 140 crore, despite us clearly denying this,' an official statement from UTV Motion Pictures said. 'We would like to clarify that UTV has not purchased the rights of the movie in question. We have been very open about announcing our new projects and communicated them to the media and will continue to do so. We hope this puts all speculations to rest,' the statement said.

The 2010 action film was directed by Abhinav Kashyap and produced by Arbaaz under the Arbaaz Khan Productions. For the sequel, Arbaaz will don the director's hat after Abhinav opted out of the second installment. The original cast of Salman and Sonakshi will not change. However, the story will be shifted to a larger city. And Sonu Sood who played the baddie in the first part, has been replaced by Prakash Raj to play the villain. The sequel will go on floors in March and the film will be a 2012 Christmas release.a