MUMBAI: The prequel to ‘Dabangg’ which Bollywood superstar Salman Khan wants to do, is caught in a dilemma. How does one do a film about the beginning of Chulbul Pandey’s career as a wacky law-enforcer without Sonakshi Sinha?

That’s the question that has cropped up regarding the prospects of a prequel.

Arbaaz and the rest of the unit of ‘Dabangg’ don’t want to do a ‘Dabangg’ film without Sonakshi.

Says a source very close to the franchise, “Sona has become the unit’s lucky mascot. Everyone in the ‘Dabangg’ team including Salman and Arbaaz dotes on her. We can’t think of  doing a Dabangg film without her.”

Favourite characters are known to be brought back into sequels from the dead. Recently when Tigmanshu Dhulia directed a sequel to ‘Sahib Bibi Aur Gangster’ he decided to revive Randeep Hooda’s dead character as a ghost. However Randeep was busy shooting for ‘Jism 2’ in Sri Lanka and couldn’t spare his ghostly presence for the sequel.

It  would be interesting to see how Sonakshi’s character can be brought into  the prequel to ‘Dabangg 3’ since she meets Salman Khan’s Chulbul Pandey for the first time in ‘Dabangg’ and marries him in the sequel.

Says the source, “Practically speaking it is impossible to get Sona’s character into the prequel. But we are all keen to have her. We’ll find a way. We won’t make a ‘Dabangg’ film without her.”

Interestingly female characters have almost always been dropped from sequels: Bipasha Basu and Katrina Kaif are no part of ‘Race 2’. And Vidya Balan is nowhere to be seen in the cast of ‘Dedh Ishqiya’.