Not so full house

Anil Kapoor and Nana Patekar

The last time Anil Kapoor and Nana Patekar joined hands for a laugh riot, they took the audience on a hilarious ride with Welcome Back (2015). Many hoped that they would recreate the magic with Housefull 5. But one hears that Kapoor - who was in talks to join Akshay Kumar, Abhishek Bachchan and Riteish Deshmukh in the comedy franchise's fifth instalment - is no longer part of the film. While producer Sajid Nadiadwala and director Tarun Mansukhani were keen to have the senior actor on board, the talks apparently fell through over remuneration. "There is no bad blood. But Sajid and Anil disagreed on the fee that the latter demanded," says a source.

Akshay Kumar, Riteish Deshmukh and Abhishek Bachchan

Naturally, the development has led to some shuffling in the cast. From what we hear, Patekar's role in the film is being rewritten. "Like in the Welcome franchise, Nana and Anil were to play characters related to each other, who work together as a duo. But with Anil exiting Housefull 5, the makers are writing a new role for Nana," the source adds. This change in cast, however, won't have any bearing on the schedule as Mansukhani preps to roll the comedy in August-end.

Mid-day reached out to Nadiadwala, who did not respond till press time.