Anurag Basu’s 2007 film Life in a Metro, an anthology with four stories inter-woven with each other, not only received critical acclaim but also garnered good collections at the box office. This prompted the filmmaker to helm a sequel of the popular film and the pre-production work is already underway. However, speculations around the cast of the much-awaited sequel refuse to die down. From Saif Ali Khan and Abhishek Bachchan to Rajkummar Rao and Sonakshi Sinha, several names have apparently been considered for Basu's film.

Now the latest buzz is that Taapsee Pannu, whose name was also in the running, has been replaced by Fatima Sana Shaikh. If a report in an entertainment portal is to be believed, Taapsee already had prior commitment to fulfill and couldn't give the dates that Anurag desired.

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Given Taapsee's unavailability, the filmmaker was on a look out for different option as the lead and eventually, locked Fatima for the same. "He had already spoken to Fatima in the past and when dates did become an issue it was an easy fix for him this time around," a source revealed to the portal.

Well, it seems Taapsee's loss turned out to be Fatima's gain. It is touted that the film is all set to go on floors by the year end.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Taapsee has been receiving rave reviews after her portrayal of Rumi in Anurag Kashyap's Manmarziyaan. Fatima, on the other hand, will next be seen in Aamir Khan's Thugs of Hindostan, also starring Amitabh Bachchan and Katrina Kaif.