MUMBAI: Bollywood director Vikas Bahl who has all but wrapped up his new undertaking ‘Queen’ with Kangna Ranaut playing the lead, is all set to return to ‘Chillar Party’, the film that Vikas co-directed with Nitesh Tiwari, thanks to the constant urgings of Salman Khan who was a co-producer on the first ‘Chillar Party’ and keen to carry the franchise forward.

However at that time when Salman wanted Vikas and Nitesh to do ‘Chillar Party 2’ Vikas was keen on exploring another genre. Now ‘Chillar Party 2’ is ready to go on the floors, but with a rider.

The  8 children who made ‘Chillar Party’ so memorable and were rewarded with a collective National award, would no longer be part of the Chillar franchise. The film would be made with a fresh cast of juvenile actors.

Says Vikas, “I’ve two scripts ready. But the cast would be different. It’s impossible to shoot ‘Chillar Party 2’ with the same kids. They’ve grown up and moved on. So the choice was to either carrying the story forward with the kids in accordance with their growth, or create  a new set of actors to play the same characters of the same age. We’ve opted for the latter. The housing colony and the characters would be the same. But the kids playing the main roles would be different.”

Explaining why he needed a break from the ‘Chillar Party’ franchise Vikas says, “It was important for me to explore another genre and a completely different world. After exploring the world of the kids in that housing colony getting into the mind of  the female protagonist in Kangna was a different challenge. Now  I am ready to do Chillar Party again.”

Vikas Bahl’s ‘Queen’ was shot in Paris and Amsterdam. Only a 15-day schedule in Delhi remains.