Ankita Lokhande in, Kriti Kharbanda out of Chehre

Ankita Lokhande has a new film in her kitty! Last seen in the Kangana Ranaut starrer Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi (2018), the former television star has been roped in to play an important role in Amitabh Bachchan and Emraan Hashmi’s much-awaited film Chehre, helmed by writer-director Rumi Jaffery.

For the unversed, Lokhande was not the first choice of the makers for the said role. They had earlier cast Kriti Kharbanda in the same role. However, the actress was reportedly dropped from the big-ticket project due to tantrums and mismanagement by her team.

A popular entertainment portal reports that after dropping Kriti Kharbanda from the project, producer Anand Pandit met Ankita Lokhande for a discussion. The actress is said to have liked the idea, and even given a verbal nod to be a part of the film. However, she is yet to sign Chehre on the dotted line.

Ankita began her acting career on television. She played the female lead in Ekta Kapoor’s long-running show Pavitra Rishta on ZEE TV. When the actress was at the peak of her career, she surprised everyone by quitting the show for a career in movies. She debuted in Bollywood with Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi. Her next release is the action entertainer Baaghi 3, co-starring Tiger Shroff, Shraddha Kapoor and Riteish Deshmukh.

Kriti Kharbanda, on the other hand, is currently basking in the huge success of her Diwali release Housefull 4 (2019). She is also busy promoting her forthcoming comic-caper Pagalpanti. Also starring John Abraham, Anil Kapoor, Ileana D’Cruz, Pulkit Samrat and Arshad Warsi in pivotal parts, the movie is slated to tickle the funny bone of the audience on 22^nd November, 2019.

Chehre, which is a mystery thriller, is scheduled to hit the silver screen on April 24, 2020. The film brings Amitabh Bachchan and Emraan Hashmi together for the very first time.