Khiladi Akshay Kumar will star in Bhansali's new flick. Sallu hires Thai stunt director for Dabangg 2 -- the stage is set for next year's big action flick

Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Salman Khan, once close friends, are now ready to give each other stiff competition. Caught unwittingly in the crossfire is hapless Sonakshi Sinha.

Bhansali's untitled action production to be directed by Prabhu Deva will feature Akshay Kumar in an avatar that will take him far beyond his Khiladi image -- the movie, say insiders, promises pyrotechnics Kumar has never done before.

Enter Khan. The Dabangg hero has hired a Thai stunt director, who worked with Jackie Chan, for the film's sequel. Interestingly, the stuntman has worked with Kumar for the Dollar underwear ad.

A source in Bangkok, where Khan is shooting Ready with Anees Bazmi says, "Salman is shooting heavy duty stunts with a Thai action director. This man has worked extensively with Jackie Chan. Now, Salman wants him to do the action sequences for Dabangg 2."

Sonu Sood, who plays the villain in the movie, says, "I am not at liberty to talk about the stunts in Dabangg 2. But they will be far more intricate.

We will need more practise before we face the camera." Both, Dabangg 2 and Prabhu Deva's action film are expected to take the action genre in Bollywood to a new level. The fact that Khan's protegee Sinha stars in both films adds irony to the competition.

Khan, with his keen sense of mass hero-giri had done Wanted with Prabhu Deva two years ago, so Salman knows all of Deva's tricks. What's more, his business acumen has grown considerably with Dabangg.

According to sources, he intends to build on the Dabangg franchise and take it further than the Golmaal franchise. Khan wants Dabangg 2 to be bigger than the first film, even as the core cast remains unchanged.

"Salman has discussed the dynamics of the sequel with Arbaaz. He wants the main actors to stay put. Sonakshi will play his wife again and Sonu will be back as the main villain, " says a source. If you are wondering how that will be possible, since Sood's character was killed in the first film, you haven't seen too many Hindi films.

Sood will reappear as a twin brother. "That's true. Salman was keen to build on the Dabangg franchise from the time he was shooting for the first film.

In the climax, my character dies. T ensure I'm back, he conceived a dialogue on the spot regarding my twin. We were stunned when Salman mentioned the twin. That's when we realised that a sequel would be in order, " says Sood. May the best wham win.