After Sunny Deol and Ajay Devgn's exit, the long-in-the planning Hindi remake of the Malayalam film 'Traffic' finally takes off with Manoj Bajpai

The Hindi remake of the Malayalam top grosser Traffic is finally taking off after a while of musical chairs with the cast. It was recently announced that Manoj Bajpai along with Bengali film actors Parambrata and Prosenjit Chatterjee will star in the film.

This is the same project that was initially slated to go on the floors with Sunny Deol in 2011. While last year there was buzz that Ajay Devgn had been roped in.

The film is being made by a well-known television production house synonymous with reality shows. The project marks its entry into mainstream Bollywood cinema.

Says a source, `Early last year, Devgn had been approached to man the remake that had been waiting to take off after the makers were keen that the actor-producer give it a fresh lease of life. Devgn, who was shooting in Punjab for Son of Sardaar at that time, had the producers approach him on the sets with the offer.`

The remake to be helmed by Rajesh Pillai (who also directed the original) was initially to begin shooting in 2011 but there were some issues that made the project go in a limbo. A thriller, inspired from a true-to-life event that happened in Chennai, the Hindi remake was announced within months of the Malayalam release in January 2011.

The initial cast consisted of Sunny Deol, Rajat Barmecha, Minissha Lamba and Jimmy Shiergill. However, the producers later decided to scrap the entire line of old actors and start afresh with the casting. Adds the source, `There was buzz that apparently Sunny had asked for a big fee. Later due to the delay in the project taking off he became busy with his other commitments.`