Now that Imran Khan has been confirmed as the parallel actor with Akshay Kumar for the sequel of Milan Luthria's gangster film, the director and producer Ekta Kapoor are likely to finalise the female lead soon, as the shoot is scheduled to start later this June.

It is learnt that Katrina Kaif, Deepika Padukone, Sonam Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha are in consideration for the role of the moll in the movie based on the Mumbai underworld from late 1970s to mid '80s. Incidentally, about a month ago, only Kangna Ranaut was in contention for the role reportedly inspired by Mandakini.

The Ram Teri Ganga Maili actress was said to have been involved with Dawood Ibrahim, on whom Akshay Kumar's character is believed to be based. While Kangna and Akshay would have made a novel pair, things changed after she was finalised for Ekta's other production with Sanjay Gupta. After first choice Vidya Balan couldn't commit to the film that also features John Abraham, Anil Kapoor, Sonu Sood and Manoj Bajpai, Kangna was offered and eventually confirmed for the part," says a source, adding that consequently, Ekta and Milan decided to change the cast of their movie. Kangna ruled out The source further says that somewhere Kangna's being part of Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai made the makers feel skeptical about accepting the actress in the sequel with Akshay and Imran.

"After the death of Sultan Mirza, played by Ajay Devgn, Kangna's Rehana is left alone. So there was a doubt about how the audience would accept her with Akshay and Imran, despite the actress being given an appropriate makeover. While there's no regular love triangle angle in the storyline, there's bound to be some overlap due to featuring one girl with two men," stated our source regarding Kangna's exit from the movie. With Imran being finalised for the film, leading ladies like Katrina, Deepika, Sonam and Sonakshi have come under the spotlight. "Because the girl not only has scenes with Akshay, but also some with Imran," points out our informer.

Scales tipped in favour of Sonakshi? Interestingly, another industry source tells us that Sonakshi is most likely to be finalised. "Even though she's pairing with Akshay in two other films, it would be easier to coordinate her dates as compared to the busier actresses like Katrina or Deepika," explained our source.

Milan Luthria states that only a top actress will be finalised beside Akshay and Imran. "I'd like to work with all of them at some time. As for as finalising the girl's part, I'm spending the next few days fine-tuning the character. Being fussy with detail, I'm currently dotting the i's and crossing the t's, before giving the script to anyone to read. We'll make the announcement when things are final."