Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar
Pictured: Salman Khan and Akshay KumarTwitter

Akshay Kumar was reportedly first approached for the lead role in the Marathi movie "Lai Bhaari," but the actor reportedly refused the offer as it was apparently similar to what he played in "Rowdy Rathore."

A report in Catch News has now said "Lai Bhaari" was supposed to be made in Hindi but after Akshay rejected the project, Riteish Deshmukh and director Nishikant Kamat decided to make the film in Marathi. The report also said Salman Khan's cameo in the film was not planned.

While Akshay refused to be a part of "Lai Bhaari," Salman's special appearance in the film was included after the superstar himself insisted on acting in the film, the report said.

Salman was shooting for "Jai Ho" in Hyderabad when Riteish and his team were shooting for "Lai Bhaari" there. Salman visited the sets of "Lai Bhaari" and reportedly told Nishikant: "I want to act in this film, you figure out something."

Thus was Salman's cameo in the film introduced, and it apparently worked in favour of the movie. "It was very funny, you know. People are going out of the way to cast Salman in their films and he comes to our sets and is like 'I want to act.' We were lucky," Nishikant told Catch News.

While Riteish and Akshay have featured together in the recently released rom-com "Housefull 3," Salman will soon be seen in the much-awaited sports drama "Sultan." "Housefull 3," which also features Abhishek Bachchan, Jacqueline Fernandez, Lisa Haydon and Nargis Fakhri, did not receive many positive reviews from critics, but has received a great start at the box office.