'Naam Shabana' most obvious step for 'Baby' franchise: Neeraj Pandey

Mumbai: In "Baby", the screen time for Taapsee Pannu's character Shabana was a tight 20 minutes. Now "Naam Shabana" -- a spin-off of the 2015 film -- will tell Shabana's story. Producer Neeraj Pandey says it was an organic step to build a franchise.

Talking about Taapsee's character, Pandey said in a statement: "Taapsee as Shabana in 'Baby' left an indelible impression on audiences. It seemed important to share more about the character. 'Naam Shabana' is the most obvious yet innovative step to take to build the 'Baby' franchise."

In "Baby", Taapsee was presented in a no-nonsense avatar, and her character was noticed in the ensemble cast.

Like "Baby", even "Naam Shabana" has a strong ensemble cast and sees much of the big guns of the 2015 movie making a comeback.

Returning to the screen are Akshay Kumar playing Ajay Singh Rajput, Anupam Kher playing Shukla Ji and Danny Denzongpa playing Feroze Khan. Joining the cast for this edition are Manoj Bajpayee and Prithviraj.

Presented by Gulshan Kumar and Cape of Good Films, and produced by Friday Filmworks, the movie is directed by Shivam Nair. It is releasing on March 31.

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Naam Shabana