Aishwarya Rai Bachchan doesn't have a visual presence in 2.0: Shankar

There have been a lot of rumours whether Aishwarya Rai Bachchan part of Rajinikanth's 2.0 as she was the female lead in the first instalment in the Robot franchise. Finally, there is some clarity on the issue.

In an interview with an entertainment website, Shankar has said that Aishwarya Rai is not acting in 2.0. "Aishwarya Rai is part of the script, but she doesn't have a visual presence. There will be references for her in the film but she is not acting in 2.0," Behindwoods quotes him as saying.

In the first instalment, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan had a lot of importance to her character as the story was centered around her role. She played the character named Sana and girlfriend of Dr Vaseegaran (Rajinikanth), a scientist.

As Rajinikanth and Shankar were uniting for a movie made on Robot franchise, speculations were rife that Aishwarya would be playing the female lead. Once it was revealed that Amy Jackson was on board, it was said that she might be doing a cameo.

2.0 is made with a never-before budget in the Indian cinema. Lyca Productions has shelled out over Rs 570 crore on the movie. Akshay Kumar plays a pivotal role in the flick, which will see the light of the day in three languages – Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. An estimate says that the Rajinikanth-starrer would see release in 10,000 screens.

Meanwhile, the advance booking for tickets has kick-started in Bengaluru. It will begin soon in Tamil Nadu.