"Opposite Akshay Kumar, there is requirement of a relatively younger leading man to feature in the film. Ekta Kapoor and Milan Luthria have been brainstorming to get the right man for the job for quite some time now. Shahid Kapoor and Imran Khan have been sent feelers as well but nothing has been finalised yet. Now there are solid indications of Emraan being summoned for the job", said an industry observer.

However, there hasn't been any confirmation in this regard as well since Emraan himself is ultra busy and hardly has any dates for next one and a half years at the least. He is currently wrapping up 'Jannat 2', is about to begin 'Raaz 3', promote 'Shanghai', begin ground work on 'Daayan' and then is expected to step into Karan Johar's next production as well. In the middle of this all, he has Rajkumar Gupta's 'Ghanchakkar' to kick-start too.

"Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai has already been postponed and won't make it to August this year, which was the earlier plan. If at all it releases this year, it won't be before December that seems unlikely though", says a trade analyst, "After all, Akshay Kumar already has three confirmed releases this year in 'Housefull 2', 'Rowdy Rathore' and 'Joker'. Then there is 'Khiladi 786 - Made In Punjab' and one more film expected to go on floors too. It is humanly impossible for him to get started with another film so soon and release it by end of year, especially when the other lead is yet to be finalized."

Meanwhile, a source close to Emraan does confirm that he is most definitely not the other lead in the film. In fact the actor is not even aware of the current developments surrounding the film and is totally clueless around all the speculations making rounds.

"When this news started floating around, Emraan was holidaying during the New Year. Soon after his return, he has resumed shooting for 'Jannat 2' and would now step into Raaz 3 straight away. As far as he is concerned, 'Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai 2' is not a film which was ever in his agenda. He has already moved on to his half a dozen other assignments that are keeping him occupied", informs his friend.