Ajay to play a terrorist in ‘Speed’ remake

Ajay Devgn has been signed to play a terrorist in Priyadarshan’s yet-untitled film inspired by Jan de Bont’s 1994 thriller ’Speed’. The film will be shot on an actual subway train speeding from London to Glasgow.

The 1994 Hollywood thriller was about a bomb in a bus that would go off if the bus loses its speed.

"But the film is not called ’Bullet Train’, nor is it inspired by that film. I don’t know where this wrong news came from! It’s inspired by ’Speed’. The difference is that we’ve translocated the terror attack from a bus to a train," says Priyan, as he prepares to shoot this untitled thriller beginning September.

"We’ve got the permission to shoot on a London station and train. It took some efforts, but we did it. I don’t think it would’ve made sense to shoot the film without the actual location and train," he added.

The most unusual part of the film is the casting. While Manoj Bajpai (a first for Priyan) has been cast in a positive role as the engineer trying to control the train’s speed so that the bomb doesn’t go off, Ajay Devgn plays the ace terrorist.

The last time he was cast in a negative role was in Raj Kumar Santoshi’s ’Khakee’.

"I’ve just signed Kangana Ranaut opposite Ajay. I’ve never worked with Kangana before. Tusshar Kapoor and Sameera Reddy have also been cast as terrorists. My other favourite, Suniel Shetty, is also there in a very special role," Priyan says.

Apparently, Devgn recommended Kangana.

The film is written by Priyadarshan, Robin Bhatt (who also co-wrote Priyan’s soon-to-be-released ’Aakrosh’) and Aditya Dhar.

"I’ve never directed a thriller before. As for ’Khatta Meetha’, it’s already done and out of my system. After 81 films, how can I get excited about a release?," Priyan says.