Lisa Haydon
Lisa Marie HaydonOfficial Facebook page

After strong speculations, Nargis Fakhri's exit from "Shaukeen" is finally confirmed as Lisa Haydon is roped in for the role.

The "Queen" actress has been finalised for the role of Akshay Kumar's girlfriend in the film.

Producer Murad Khetani confirmed Haydon's signing in the film to The Times of India revealing that the actress' role in "Queen" had impressed the team making her the apt choice for the film.

"The way Lisa essayed her role in "Queen" made her the most suitable choice for our film. She has the required spunk and oomph. The shoot with her will start on 16 April," Khetani told the tabloid.

Since Haydon's character is based on Rati Agnihotri's role from the original 1982 Basu Chatterjee film with the same title, the actress will be seen wooed by older men, played by Anupam Kher, Annu Kapoor and Piyush Mehra in the remake. The roles were originally played by Ashok Kumar, Utpal Dutt and AK Hangal.

Haydon's replacement stemmed after Nargis Fakhri created a situation walking out of the film at the last moment. The "Main Tera Hero" actress had allotted dates for her Hollywood film directed by Paul Feig which clashed directly with the Kumar's film. As reports of Fakhri's unprofessionalism did rounds, the actress had to finally let go of the Hindi film making way for Haydon.

Recently rumours were abuzz that the "Transformers" star Megan Fox has been approached for the female lead of "Shaukeen." Reports had carried that Kumar and the film's director Abhishek Sharma allegedly met the Hollywood celeb in Los Angeles for the part. However, the buzz has now proved to be false.   

Meanwhile, for the 27-year-old model-turned actor Haydon, "Shaukeen" will be her fourth film after "Aisha" (2010), "Rascals" (2011) and the well applauded "Queen." 

"Shaukeen" which will be directed by Sharma of "Tere Bin Laden" fame, is expected to release by this year end.

Photo credit: Lisa Haydon/ Facebook

(Ed:AJ)